Fire Prevention Week ends on Oct. 9 across Canada.
And as it comes to a close, the Guelph Fire department said it’s making sure more is known about fire safety in the community, including the difference between a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm.
Fire chief Dave Elloway said one way to do it is to show yourself testing your alarm.
“One of the things that we’re looking to do is to challenge people to show yourselves and your family testing your alarms, and post it to social media,” Elloway said.
“Social media has become such an important part of our fabric, particularly with COVID-19, when we’re very wary of what we do and other people that we see outside of our families. So this is a way to be able to show everybody else that, ‘I’m doing my part.'”
Elloway said to post a video or a photo of yourself on social media testing your alarms, with the hashtag #Getloud, to help the department spread the important information.
This year’s theme is “Learn the sounds of fire safety.”
The City of Guelph said there must be a working smoke alarm on every storey in every home in Ontario and outside all sleeping areas. If there is no working smoke alarm, the city said a fire could be fatal inside the home.
As more people are working from home right now, chief fire prevention officer Tony Sabatini said cooking safety is paramount.
“People will be probably cooking a little more at home but at the same time, their minds are actually busy thinking of their work as well,” Sabatini said.
“So they may cook something on the stove and then have to deal with a work-related matter in a particular office or area of the home. We’re strongly, strongly recommending that if anyone is cooking anything, whether you’re using the stove, the microwave or the burners, to actually stay in the kitchen until whatever it is that they’re cooking or warming up is completed.”
He said they’d prefer people be out of the house and call 911 if a fire occurs. But if you’re able to, he said, slide the lid of the pot over top, turn off the burner and leave the kitchen.
Sabatini added the fire department has also gone door-to-door and delivered more than 700 fire information packages.
The city said you can also play the virtual Kahoot! Quiz online and test your knowledge on fire safety. The quiz is available until Oct. 24.
You can go to the City’s website to learn more information on fire safety and prevention.