IT’S that time again – 1 April is just around the corner which means just one thing – the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services “Don’t Be a Fool” campaign.
The QFES and Duracell have teamed up each year for the past 14 years to urge residents in the Granite Belt and across the state to change the batteries in their smoke alarms.
Last year, firefighters were called to more than 1800 residential fires across the state – an average of 35 residential fires per week while there were 141 structural fires in our own South West region.
As well as destruction of property, 12 people lost their lives.
QFES Inspector David Sutch said having a working smoke alarm greatly improved the chances of safely escaping from a house fire, and urged residents to change their batteries and test their alarms.
“Ninety-nine per cent of Australian households have a fitted smoke alarm, but frighteningly 700,000 Aussies admit they have not changed their smoke alarm batteries in the last year,” Mr Sutch said.
“We are calling for Queenslanders to get serious about fire safety by changing the batteries in their smoke alarms on April 1, and creating an escape plan for their families.”
Figures from the 2014 Galaxy Research report show up to 70 per cent of parents have not planned ahead in case of a fire and do not proactively change their smoke alarm batteries every year.
Instead, they rely on other prompts or wait until the smoke alarm starts to be beep before replacing batteries.
Inspector Sutch said the 2013 statistics re-enforced the importance of working smoke alarms in Queensland households and encouraged residents to use the annual “Don’t be a Fool” campaign as an opportunity to protect themselves and their family.
“It doesn’t take long to sit down with your family and talk about the household’s fire escape plan and it only takes five minutes to change a smoke alarm battery,” he said.
