Check your smoke detectors this weekend

Every day in the United States, seven people die in a home fire and the most affected people are children and the elderly. Home fires cause more than $7 billion in property damage each year, according to the Red Cross.

This weekend when you change your clocks back to standard time, take a moment to change the batteries in your smoke alarms and check your fire alarms to make sure they are working properly.

The National Fire Protection Association says Thanksgiving Day — less than a month away — is the leading day for home cooking fires, followed by the day before Thanksgiving and Christmas day.

Washington state residential fire fatlities, January — August 2019
Washington state residential fire fatlities, January — August 2019
Graphic courtesy the Washington state Fire Marshal

The Washington state Fire Marshal recommends that you:

  • Install a smoke alarm in every room where people sleep, outside each sleeping area and on each level of your residence.
  • Test your smoke alarms every month.
  • Replace smoke alarms every 10 years.

If you need help getting a smoke alarm installed, a Washington state nonprofit called Gibby Home Fire Prevention installs free smoke detectors in homes for people who qualify. The nonprofit was founded by Gerry and Bonnie Gibson, whose son Greg “Gibby” Gibson died in a house fire in Shoreline in 2016. The rental house he lived in didn’t have smoke alarms installed. The couple advocated for a bill that passed the Legislature in 2019 that boosts the number of fire alarms installed in rental dwellings and calls for fines up to $5,000 if damage or deaths occur in dwellings that don’t have alarms.

The couple are featured in a video by the American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign:

You can also request a free smoke alarm from the Northwest chapter of the American Red Cross.

Commissioner’s Eye on Insurance

The Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner protects insurance consumers and oversees the insurance industry.

WA State Office of the Insurance Commissioner

Written by

Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler regulates the insurance industry and protects insurance consumers.

Commissioner’s Eye on Insurance

The Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner protects insurance consumers and oversees the insurance industry.

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