When we were teenagers, my sister and I managed to catch our kitchen on fire while we were home alone. We had left a tea kettle on the stove boiling water and with the TV turned up we forgot and didn’t hear the whistle of the kettle. That’s right, we caught the kitchen on fire trying to boil water.
The water evaporated and the metal became so hot that it melted the plastic handle which hit the stove top and caught fire. The flames grew larger scorching the cabinets above. Thankfully we had working smoke alarms and the piercing sounds was so loud that even teenagers couldn’t ignore it. We were able to put the fire out before it became too big.
Shockingly, nearly half of the nation’s fire deaths occur in the four percent of homes that do not have smoke alarms. Thursday morning I attended an event at WSB-TV where Fire Departments from 20+ Metro Atlanta counties picked up over 5,000 smoke alarms donated by Kidde. This public private partnership will allow these fire departments to provide smoke alarms to residents who can’t afford them. Not only will they get a free smoke alarm but the fire fighters will even install them!
More importantly this is providing an opportunity to remind everyone how important smoke alarms can be; during a fire every second counts. Have you checked your smoke alarms batteries? Do you know where you should have smoke alarms located? Check out these fire safety tips and make sure your family is protected.
Tomorrow, December 5th, Kidde and WSB-TV will be at local area Home Depot stores for Save a Life Saturday. This is part of Operation Save a Life, a partnership between Kidde and ABC to promote fire and carbon monoxide safety is cities across the country. The Home Depot experts will be answering fire safety questions and help you decide which alarm is best for your home and family. Check out these participating locations!
Don’t wait until it’s too late!
That is interesting to know that so many deaths happen because people don’t have fire alarms. These smoke detectors and such are their to protect you. They are fairly easy to maintain as well, it is just going to beep at you to change it’s batteries every couple years or so.