The National Fire Protection Association will celebrate 202 years of Fire Prevention Week on Oct. 6-12 and Provo Fire & Rescue will host a fair on Oct. 7 to inform the Provo community about fire safety.
The association's 2024 campaign, “Smoke Alarms: Make Them Work for You,” aims to educate homeowners on the necessity of having fully operational smoke alarms in multiple locations on the property.
According to the association, fires in properties without smoke alarms or smoke alarms that are not working properly caused 59% of home fire deaths between 2018 and 2022. During this period, fires in properties with nonfunctional smoke alarms caused around 400 deaths and 1,000 injuries each year.
“Smoke alarms can make a life-saving difference in a home fire, but they have to be working in order to protect people,” Lorraine Carli , vice president of Outreach and Advocacy for the association said in a press release. “This year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign drives home just how important it is to install, test, and maintain smoke alarms to ensure they’re working properly.”
The association recommended homeowners install smoke alarms in bedrooms and hallways, test alarms each month and replace alarms that are more than 10 years old or unresponsive.
Kevin Paxton, fire marshal at BYU Risk Management and Safety, said BYU electrical shock and fire alarm technicians control smoke alarms in campus buildings and housing and test them quarterly.
He said students living on campus do not need to worry about their smoke alarms, but students should not tamper with them. However, he said students living off campus and some married student housing complexes should change smoke alarm batteries every six months.
The Fire Prevention Week Safety Fair will take place on Monday, Oct. 7 from 4-7 p.m. in the southeast parking lot of the Provo Recreation Center.
Jeanie Atherton, a captain of Provo Fire & Rescue, said the fair will offer free goody bags with fire-themed toys and a firefighter cut-out photo opportunity. Children will have the chance to spray water from a firetruck hose, meet Smokey Bear, look at rescue equipment and learn about fire safety in the home.
“We hold this safety fair every year to try to get as many people to come,” Atherton said. “To help them understand that they need smoke detectors in their home and fire extinguishers and things like that and have home escape plans.”
While the fair is meant for families of all ages, Atherton said the fair will cater towards teaching elementary-school-aged children about fire safe behavior.
Join Provo Fire & Rescue for our Fire Prevention Week Safety Fair on Monday, October 7, 2024, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Provo Recreation Center (Southeast Parking Lot)! This family-friendly event will feature a fire safety trailer, fun fire hose games, goodie bags, free… pic.twitter.com/C4xXjYoPYa
— Provo City (@provocity) September 24, 2024
Paxton also offered advice on how to prevent fires in campus housing. He said students should be attentive when cooking and follow campus housing policies regarding fire safety.
“There's never really fire, but smoke alarms do go off when (students) forget that they have something on the stove,” Paxton said. “Any kind of a flame, candles, space heaters — anything like that are not allowed on campus.”
Paxton said BYU has not experienced any deaths or injuries resulting from fires on campus within the last few years.
Students can learn more about fire safety in campus housing on the association's website.