When smoke fills a home during a fire, there is often only five minutes to escape before succumbing to toxic fumes.
Buckeye Fire Medical Rescue Department’s Fire Marshal Nate Ryan said fires in modern homes are a different beast to deal with than in the past. The materials used to construct homes result in toxic fumes that can kill quickly before the fire even spreads. For this reason, among many others, it’s imperative that homeowners and renters maintain regular upkeep of their smoke detector systems.
To help with this fire prevention and safety process, BFMRD will host a Community Smoke Alarm Walk with the Arizona Burn Foundation and American Red Cross Sept. 28. During the walk, volunteers from BFMRD will visit homes south of Monroe from 9th Street to 255th Ave., knocking on doors and offering free smoke alarm inspections and replacements.
Chief Jake Rhoades said that the neighborhoods are selected based on data collection on locations with the greatest need. Ryan added that those locations are often ones with older homes that do not include the more reliable, technologically savvy systems.
The program occurs at a minimum of once per year, however, Rhoades said it will be offered as needed in certain areas.
“Sometimes even after a fire, in certain areas, we will go walk that neighborhood and say, ‘are you aware of this? Do you have a smoke detector?” he said. “The importance of a smoke detector is second to none. … That information to residents is key to survival.”
BFMRD offers free smoke detector maintenance and battery changing services year round. Residents can request the service at no charge to ensure their detectors are operational and batteries are charged. Sometimes, Ryan said, residents will remove low detector batteries when the device starts “chirping” and neglect to replace them. That decision can be deadly.
“We do run calls where someone does have a fire and their smoke detector didn’t go off,” he said. “That early notification is extra critical.”
This is especially true considering the types of materials used in modern construction—plastics and synthetic compounds that create toxic smoke which can overcome a person in five minutes. Cars, e-bikes, scooters and other similar machinery often parked in garages are even more dangerous with victims succumbing after only one minute of exposure, Ryan said.
“It’s more and more that we see those things and those types of hazards,” he said. “We tied in that piece of education where we explain that they do need to check smoke detectors every year and know where they are located and have a safety plan. How to call 911 and all those pieces."
