Test your smoke alarm when you change your clocks this weekend, urges Lincolnshire fire service
Lives could be saved while changing the clocks, says the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue which has joined the national campaign to combine two chores into one.
On Saturday night/Sunday morning (28 October) the clocks will need to be put back one hour in every home across the county.
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Test your smoke alarm while adjusting your clocks this weekend, says Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue
The Fire Kills campaign is urging people to test their smoke alarms as part of this routine.
It’s in a bid to reduce the number of people who are killed in accidental house fires in England each year – more than 200.
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Almost 40 per cent of these happened in homes where no smoke alarm was fitted.
Here in Lincolnshire, 20 per cent of accidental house fires in 2011 occurred in a property with no smoke alarm, resulting in 12 casualties.
Thirty per cent were in homes fitted with a smoke alarm that did not work, leaving four people injured.
Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue advises testing smoke alarms every week and looking after them by following the manufacturers’ instructions.
This usually includes vacuuming off the dust at least every three months.
Debbie Robinson, deputy community fire safety manager from Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, says: “You’re more than four times as likely to die in a fire if you haven’t got a working smoke alarm.
"They’re the easiest way to alert you to the danger of fire, giving you precious time to escape.
"What’s more, they’re cheap, easy to get hold of and easy to fit.
"Even if you already have one, it’s vital to regularly check that it still works – one in three fails to operate in a fire, usually because the battery was dead or intentionally removed.”
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