As Fire Prevention Week approaches, the Hartsdale Fire Department urges residents to make sure your smoke alarms are working.

The theme for Fire Prevention Week, October 6-12, 2024 is “Smoke alarms: Make them work for you!"

Your Hartsdale Fire Department is teaming up with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)—the official sponsor of Fire Prevention Week for more than 100 years—to promote this year’s FPW campaign, “Smoke alarms: Make them work for you!”
The campaign works to educate everyone about the importance of having working smoke alarms in the home.

According to NFPA, smoke alarms reduce the risk of dying in a home fire by more than half (54%). Meanwhile, roughly three out of five fire deaths happen in homes with either no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.

“Smoke alarms serve as the first line of defense in a home fire, but they need to be working in order to protect people,” said Lorraine Carli, vice president of outreach and advocacy at NFPA. “This year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign helps better educate the public about simple but critical steps they can take to make sure their homes have smoke alarms in all the needed locations and that they’re working properly.”

The Hartsdale Fire Department encourages all residents to actively support the 2024 FPW theme, “Smoke alarms: Make them work for you!”

Working smoke alarms can make a life-saving difference in a home fire, giving people the time to get out safely.
This year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign is a great way to remind everyone about these messages and to act on them.

The HFD offers these key smoke alarm safety tips and guidelines:
• Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area (like a hallway), and on each level (including the basement) of the home.
• Make sure smoke alarms meet the needs of all family members, including those with sensory or physical disabilities.
• Test smoke alarms at least once a month by pushing the test button.
• Replace all smoke alarms when they are 10 years old.

To find out more about FPW programs and activities in Hartsdale, or to request a Fire Prevention visit to your school, community association, or workplace please contact the Hartsdale Fire Department at 914-949-2325 and ask for the Fire Prevention Officer, leave your name and contact info and you will receive a call back with the information.

For more information about Fire Prevention Week and smoke alarms, visit fpw.org.

Stay safe!

FYI:
Since 1922, the NFPA has sponsored the public observance of Fire Prevention Week. In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed Fire Prevention Week a national observance, making it the longest-running public health observance in our country. During Fire Prevention Week, children, adults, and teachers learn how to stay safe in case of a fire. Firefighters provide lifesaving public education in an effort to drastically decrease casualties caused by fires.

Fire Prevention Week is observed each year during the week of October 9th in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October 8, 1871, and caused devastating damage. This horrific conflagration killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures, and burned more than 2,000 acres of land.