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Plan and Practice your Fire Escape during Fire Prevention Week

Ambulance firetruck firefighter stock photo Studstill Media
File Photo – Studstill Media

SPRINGFIELD – Governor Pritzker has proclaimed this week as Fire Prevention Week to encourage residents to review their fire escape plans and make sure the plan considers all the needs of everyone in the home. The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal is taking part in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Fire Prevention Week. This year’s campaign, “Fire won’t wait. Plan your escape,” works to educate everyone about the important actions they can take to keep themselves and those around them safe from home fires. Residents should make sure smoke alarms are installed in every sleeping room and on every level of their home. You should also know at least two ways out of every room, and designate a safe meeting place outside the home where everyone should meet.
“It’s important for everyone to have a home fire escape plan and practice that plan. Everyone needs to be prepared in advance, so that they know what to do when the smoke alarm sounds. Every home fire escape plan will be unique, as all homes are different,” said Acting Illinois State Fire Marshal Dale Simpson.
The “Be Alarmed” program was founded in 2018 and is a partnership between the OSFM and the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance. The program was developed to educate Illinois residents on the dangers of residential fires and how to prevent them from occurring in the home, as well as ensuring there are properly installed, working smoke alarms in homes. Providing 10-year sealed battery smoke alarms ensures the power source cannot be removed from the unit and, if properly maintained, will last the life of the device. In 2021, of the 217 Illinois Fire Departments participating in the program to provide and install the new 10-year sealed battery smoke alarms for Illinois residents, it was found that 80% of pre-existing smoke alarms in these homes were non-functional or expired. Modern homes burn faster due to the use of synthetic construction materials, which has drastically reduced escape times to 2 minutes or less.
For more general information about Fire Prevention Week and fire prevention in general, visit www.fpw.org.

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