Old Bethpage, NY - October 4, 2016 - For more than 25 years, media has helped remind people to change their batteries when they change their clocks for Daylight Saving Time. But everyone needs to know that smoke alarms do NOT last forever. Simply changing the batteries in an alarm past its useful life creates a false sense of security, and the alarms might not work when you need them most.
The National Fire Prevention Week (October 9 – 16 NFPW) theme this year is “Don’t Wait, Check the Date.” Replace smoke alarms every 10 years. To help keep Long Islanders safe, Assemblyman Charles Lavine has secured a donation of 250 combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms from First Alert to be distributed to Long Islanders.
Education is so important when you consider that:
- 3 of 5 home fire deaths occur in homes without working smoke alarms
- 450 people are killed from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning yearly
- Smoke and CO alarms don’t last forever
New types of smoke alarms have batteries sealed in the units that last for 10 years. A warning signal lets you know when the 10 year lifespan is up, when it’s time to take the old unit down and put up a new one. No battery change is ever needed.
Where: Plainview Fire Department, 958 Round Swamp Rd, Old Bethpage, NY
Who: Assemblyman Charles Lavine, Former Plainview Fire Department Captain Martin Pollack, Plainview Board of Directors, Gigi Lubin, Home Safety Expert, First Alert
Other: For families looking for something to do over the weekend, the For A Safer Place event will be at the Lowe’s of Jersey City, 727 Route 440, Jersey City, NJ 07304, on Saturday, October 8. Kids can meet and talk with firemen, see firetrucks, plan and learn escape routes and build a wooden firetruck at the Build & Grow workshop (www.forasaferplace.com).
