Local State Farm agent Shane McMahon, along with the Washington Court House Fire Department, recently encouraged all residents to embrace the 2021 Fire Prevention Week theme — “Learn the Sounds of Fire Safety” — coming in October and made a donation of fire prevention kits.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) website nfpa.org, 2021 Fire Prevention Week will be held Oct 3-9. The week is, “NFPA’s signature fire prevention awareness event and the oldest continuously running U.S. public health observance, launched in 1922.”
This year’s theme — according to the NFPA — grew out of the attention received while people heard alarms in their homes while remote learning or working from the house.
“Recognizing the different sounds alarms make, and the action needed based on that sound, is critical to preventing injury and death from fire,” the NFPA’s website explains. “This year’s theme also pays particular attention to smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms and alert devices that meet the needs of people who are deaf or hard of hearing. These include strobe lights, low frequency alarms, and bed/pillow shakers which activate at the sound of the alarm.”
According to a press release from State Farm, about seven people die everyday in home fires and most often in homes without working smoke alarms. That is why State Farm agents across Ohio are teaming up with local fire departments to promote the theme this year which educates everyone about, “simple but important actions they can take to keep themselves and those around them safe.”
To assist in this cause, this month 165 State Farm agents in Ohio are delivering fire prevention kits to their local fire departments.
Finally, State Farm released additional information with the press release about the “sounds of safety.”
According to the National Fire Safety Association (NFSA), three out of five home fire deaths result in fires where there are either no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. Additionally, the NFSA states that, a continuous set of three loud beeps — beep, beep, beep — means smoke or fire and encourages residents to immediately get out, call 9-1-1, and stay out. A single chirp every 30 or 60 seconds means the battery is low and must be changed.
All smoke alarms must be replaced after 10 years. Chirping that continues after the battery has been replaced means the alarm is at the end of its life and the unit must be replaced. Make sure your smoke and CO alarms meet the needs of all your family members, including those with sensory or physical disabilities.
Reach Martin Graham at (740) 463-9684 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy.
