Indian River wants to engage our community into discussing fire prevention and fire safety. This is an important way to ensure that all fire safety messages are heard throughout the community.

Fire prevention is an important operational objective within any fire company especially during the month of October.

This week is Fire Prevention Week nationwide and the theme for this year's awareness campaign is "Hear the Beep Where You Sleep: Every Bedroom Needs a Working Smoke Alarm."

Smoke alarms will be a big part of the educational program, as they are an important tool to preventing fire deaths in the home. According the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA), having a working smoke alarm in the home cuts the risk of dying in a fire in half. On average each year, three out of five home fire deaths result in fires where there are either no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. In 23 percent of the home fire deaths, smoke alarms were present but did not sound.

The NFPA recommends installing smoke alarms inside every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. They should be tested twice a year and their batteries should be replaced annually. Smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years or sooner if they don't respond properly when tested.

According to the NFPA statistics, half of all U.S. home fire deaths occur at night between the hours of 11:00pm and 7:00am, when people are most likely to be sleeping. Having a working smoke alarm in the home cuts the risk of dying in a fire!

Once a smoke alarm sounds, a family should quickly exit the home, even if they only see light smoke. If there is already heavy smoke in the house, parents and children should be familiar with getting low and crawling under the smoke. Children should know they should fight to get out rather than crawl under a bed or hide in a closet in fear. Family members should not spend time looking for pets. Instead, they should leave the burning home and leave the door open to give the pet the best chance to get out.

Half of all U.S. home fire deaths occur at night between the hours of 11:00pm and 7:00am, when people are most likely to be sleeping. Having a working smoke alarm in the home cuts the risk of dying in a fire!