October is Fire Prevention Month and the Peoria Police Department is stressing the role smoke alarms play in fire safety.
Division Chief of Fire Prevention Nate Rice says an estimated five million homes across the United States don’t have any working smoke alarms. That’s not only dangerous for the residents, it’s dangerous for firefighters, too.
“If we have trapped victims in fires, that puts a significant risk on not only the occupant who is trapped in that very dangerous environment, but now it puts the firefighters at risk of having to take on the challenge of trying to rescue that victim, as well as putting out the fire at the same time,” Rice said at a Tuesday news conference.
Illinois State Fire Marshal James Rivera said there were 89 civilian deaths in house fires in 2023, and more than 80 firefighters were killed in the line of duty in 2023.
“It’s incumbent upon ourselves and the community and everyone out there, you know, to reduce that risk,” Rivera said. “Not only for the homes, but for the firefighters that respond on a daily basis.”
Rice said a working fire alarm increases the chances of survival in a house fire by about 53%. To reach a goal of installing one in every home in Peoria, the department offers a free alarm program called Sound the Alarm.
“Anyone’s eligible, where their program used to be income based,” Rice said. “It is now, basically, if you need a working smoke alarm, you contact the fire department.”
Since starting the program in 2020, Rice said the department has installed more than 600 alarms in around 200 Peoria homes. You can apply for the program by calling the department’s main office at 309-494-8700.
If you already have smoke alarms, Rice said to make sure to test them this month. If the alarm is not a round, sealed battery model, it’s probably more than 10 years old and time for a replacement.
