As part of Fire Prevention Week 2024, which runs October 6 to 12, Manitoba Municipal and Northern Relations is reminding all Manitobans of the importance of having working smoke alarms in their home.

This year’s Fire Prevention Week theme, ‘Smoke alarms: Make them work for you!’ strives to educate everyone about the importance of having a working smoke alarm in the home. This year’s campaign is reminding everyone to install, test and replace smoke alarms and make sure smoke alarms meet the needs of all family members, including those with sensory needs or physical disabilities.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, smoke alarms reduce the risk of dying in a home fire by more than half (54 per cent). Meanwhile, roughly three out of five fire deaths happen in homes with either no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.

Best practices for smoke alarms in the home include:

  • install smoke alarms in each bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on each level of the home;
  • test smoke alarms once a month by pressing the test button;
  • replace smoke alarms when they are 10 years old or stop responding when tested;
  • make a home fire escape plan and practice your plan so you know what to do should a fire happen.

The Manitoba government and Office of the Fire Commissioner, along with the Manitoba Firefighters’ Burn Fund and Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs, invites kindergarten to Grade 4 students across the province to draw a fire escape plan of their home and submit it along with a contest entry form to be entered in the contest to mark Fire Prevention Week. For contest entry details and prizing, and to learn more about Fire Prevention Week activities across the province visit: manitoba.ca.

As part of the ongoing commitment to enhance fire safety, the department has established a new fund of up to $1 million to support fire prevention and public education initiatives for Northern Affairs Communities, off-reserve Indigenous families and northern remote communities across Manitoba. Further information about this funding program will be announced in the coming months.

Fire Prevention Week is held during the week surrounding Oct. 6 in Canada and the United States to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire in October 1871.