A call from a neighbouring unit at Whispering Pines Modular Home Park to emergency services may have saved the life of one of the park’s residents last week.
Keremeos and District Volunteer Firefighters were called to Whispering Pines on September 9 at 5:20 p.m. after a resident reported smelling smoke coming from a unit adjacent his.
He also reported hearing the building’s smoke alarm, but after peering in the windows, failed to see the source of smoke or anyone inside.
Firefighters arrived to find the smoke alarm no longer working, but upon entry to the residence found a pot boiled dry on the stove. The building’s resident was discovered unconscious, but coherent, in another room.
“The pot was reaching a point where it could have ignited,” reported Keremeos fire chief Jordy Bosscha, “fortunately, the batteries in this smoke alarm still had enough life in them to activiate the alarm long enough for it to be heard.”
With Fire Prevention Week coming up October 5-11, Bosscha reminds residents to ensure they have working smoke alarms in their homes, noting the potentially devastating consequences that could have occurred in this incident had the smoke alarm not gone off.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), has announced “Working Smoke Alarms Save Lives: Test Yours Every Month!” as the Fire Prevention Week theme for 2014.
Fire Prevention Week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871 which destroyed more than 17,400 structures and killed more than 250 people. This year during October 5 – 11, 2014, fire departments throughout Canada and the United States will work to raise public awareness about the dangers of fire and how to prevent it.