The second week of October was Fire Prevention and Safety week. The Ottawa Fire Department extends that week to include the entire month of October. They are in the schools teaching kids about fire safety, promoting other things such as the free smoke alarm program, and more. Ottawa Fire Safety Specialist Cody Schraad, says knowing as much as you can about how to prevent a fire, pays off in the end:
Last year in the United States, there were 1.4 million fires resulting in 3,800 deaths. That’s one fire every 93 seconds. Fire related deaths were up over 8% from 2020. Fire deaths have been on the increase since 2012 with a 33% increase since then. Many of those deaths could have been prevented, as two thirds of those deaths happened in homes with no smoke alarms or malfunctioning alarms.
