As colder weather sets in this fall, tens of
millions of furnaces are being called back into service across North
America. October is a busy month for SecurTek monitoring station
attendants, who always assign a high priority status to carbon monoxide
alarms.
As colder weather sets in this fall, tens of millions of furnaces
are being called back into service across North America. October is a
busy month for SecurTek monitoring station attendants, who always assign a high priority status to carbon monoxide alarms.
Station attendants know lives may depend on rapid intervention by
emergency responders, according to SecurTekââ¬â¢s Director of Stations Wendy
Zaporosky:
“When night falls, especially, our teams know a lot of people depend
on us to keep watch over them in their homes. When carbon monoxide
alarms are triggered in the middle of the night, our monitoring station
attendants know rapid intervention makes a difference.”
In the United States, households can expect to average one home fire
every 15 years, or five fires in an average lifetime. According to the National Fire Protection Association, one home fire is reported every 85 seconds in the US. In a 2007 report published by the Council of Canadian Fire Marshalls and Fire Commissioners,
it was estimated that 73 per cent of all fire deaths in Canada resulted
from home fires. Risks of fire casualties in cold-climate regions are
particularly heightened when heating systems are reactivated in the
fall.
Ask yourself these questions: when was your furnace serviced last?
have you changed the filter lately? A dirty filter might result in the
heat exchanger becoming hotter, causing cracks through which carbon
monoxide could escape to critical area in your home, while you sleep.
“Fire response organizations everywhere recommend the use of carbon
monoxide detectors bearing the certifications in effect in their
jurisdiction,” notes Vito Valentini of Guardian Security Solutions
in Calgary. His company installs wired models equipped with battery
backups, an essential component of residential security systems. “They
will emit an alarm signal when the level of carbon monoxide is high
enough to pose a major health risk and poison human beings.”
Think of them as a key line of defense in the preservation of safe
conditions for life in your home. When coupled with working smoke
detectors on every floor of your home, integrated monitored systems
ensure that if the alarm goes off, someone notifies the fire department
and makes sure responders get to your home — both when youââ¬â¢re not
there, and when you are there but unable to call for help yourself.
As the cold weather sets in this December, why not take a
moment to check or replace batteries on all smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
in your home? Click
here to find out more. You will be set and safe for winter.
