Manhattan Fire Department Urges Residents to Check Smoke Alarms
Residents should learn the sounds of smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors to prevent fire-related deaths, according to the Manhattan Fire Department.
MFD hosted its annual open house on Oct. 10, teaching residents about fire safety and equipment. The firefighters demonstrated the effectiveness of fire sprinklers, smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. They also demonstrated how quickly fire can spread, and how firefighter response time is crucial.
“We have been doing the open house for many years,” Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Almes said. “It is an opportunity for folks to come in and take a look at the fire house, apparatus, meet our personnel.”
“The event was very informative,” resident Liam O’Leary said. “I didn't even know what the different smoke alarm sounds meant.”
“The National Fire Protection Association teams up with firefighters every year to get the word out,” Almes said. “They have a theme every year based around fire safety equipment.”
The theme this year is, “Learn the Sounds of Fire Safety!” It focuses on the sounds that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors make, and how to recognize what they mean, according to the NFPA.
“A chirp every minute or so means the battery is dead,” K-State Fire Marshal Jack Chatmon said when speaking about smoke alarms. “But a series of three loud beeps every second means that there’s a fire, and you need to get out.”
Learning the different sounds that smoke alarms or carbon monoxide detectors make is crucial for survival during a fire. On average, there are 200 fires per year in Manhattan, and 29.3% of those are structure fires, according to City Data, a data compiler based on public records.
“People tend to die in fires when they sleep,” Almes said. “If people are sleeping in a residence that doesn’t have smoke alarms, their chances of dying in a fire increase by over 50 percent.”
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"I actually almost lost my house to a fire," O'Leary said. "Lightning struck our chimney and knocked out all of our power, but the smoke alarm went off and woke us up. I remember how bright the strobe light was when it went off."
Not only do smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors chirp in the case of a fire, but some alarms have built-in strobe lights for those who are deaf, according to the NFPA.
“In larger buildings, there’s a code that requires fire alarms to chirp and to flash strobe lights,” Chatmon said. “The alarms are all connected, so they all go off at once.”
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The open house occurred during Fire Prevention Week, a week dedicated to teaching residents about fire safety. The NFPA coordinates the week.
MFD encourages all residents to check their smoke and carbon monoxide detectors regularly.