Fire safety starts at home

As part of the fall Wake Up! program, firefighters from Ottawa Fire Services will visit selected homes across the city this month to ensure smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are present and working.

Ontario’s Fire Code requires homes to have working smoke alarms on every storey and outside all sleeping areas. Homes with a fuel-burning appliance, fireplace or attached garage must also have carbon monoxide alarms beside each sleeping area and on every storey.

Every Sunday in September, uniformed firefighters will:

• Visit select residential areas between 10 am and 4 pm.
• Offer to inspect and test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms.
• Share information on fire safety and home escape planning.
• Leave a door hanger with fire safety information if no one is home.

Residents are not obligated to provide firefighters access to their home.

For more information on protecting your household from fire, visit Ottawa Fire Services’ Fire safety, prevention and education page. You can also follow along on a home inspection with fire prevention officers on a recent episode of OttaTalk.

Missed the firefighters when they visited? Join thousands of households across Ontario in testing their alarms as part of Test Your Smoke Alarm Day on Monday, September 28. Here’s how you can promote fire safety in your household:

• Test your alarms once per month.
• Replace the alarms’ batteries once per year, if they are replaceable, or as directed by the manufacturer.
• Install new alarms once every 10 years or as instructed by the manufacturer.
• Review your fire safety habits and escape plan with your household regularly.

Smoke alarms don't last forever. Learn more about smoke alarm safety and how your household could be saved by the beep on savedbythebeep.ca.