Tick, Tock, Test your smoke alarm

As the clocks go back, Tick, Tock, Test your smoke alarm

Smoke, the silent killer, is responsible for over half of all deaths in accidental fires in the home.
As the clocks go back this weekend, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is seizing the opportunity to remind people to test their smoke alarms are working.

Last year over half the 213 fire deaths in the home were caused by smoke inhalation. Working smoke alarms can give people the vital wake-up call they need to escape – because smoke will not, it will leave you for dead.

Shockingly, in the majority of fatal house fires, smoke alarms were either absent or did not go off – and a common cause was missing or flat batteries.

That is why Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is asking people to take the time to test their smoke alarms this clock change weekend (25 – 26th October). A simple push of the test button and you will test both the power supply and the detection mechanism.

In March 2014, nearly one in seven people tested their smoke alarms when they changed their clocks to British Summer Time. This autumn, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is determined that even more people will keep their loved ones safer from fire by testing their smoke alarms. Everyone can join in and pledge to Tick Tock Test.

Over half the people who died in fires in the home last year were 65 years old or over. So as well as testing their own alarms, the Service is urging householders to test for people who may need help testing theirs. The few seconds it takes to test could provide a few valuable minutes for loved ones to escape safely.

Head of Prevention and Protection, Keith Brooks said: "Smoke alarms are a well-proven lifesaving tool, but they are no use if they are not working. You are at least four times more likely to die in a fire if you don't have a working smoke alarm, so taking the time to test the smoke alarms in your home could be a truly lifesaving decision."

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