While cruising back home from spending the afternoon with my mother like a good son should, I came upon a billboard which read, “If I Don’t Work, You Don’t Live” and it showed a picture of a smoke detector.
At first, I thought this was a bit over dramatic, unnecessarily terrifying – but after I thought about it, the message is more than appropriate.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), over 800 lives could be saved a year if smoke detectors were used and used properly.
I can attest to this figure with our own DAT experiences here at the Central Valley Chapter. An overwhelming majority of those who experience a fire in their home are alerted by a smoke detector – some even accredit the detector with saving their lives.
While basic standards advise people to have at least one working smoke detector on each floor of a home, the NFPA suggests placing a smoke detector in each sleeping area of a home, stairways and basements.
Without being overly quixotic, we’d prefer to never have to respond to another fire and have to report back that there had been a fatality.
So please, install those smoke detectors. Already have them? Be sure to test them once a month. For more information please contact your local Chapter at (559) 455-1000.
