11:59 New Year's Day morning…Reno Fire Station #3 gets another call, as a fire truck pulls out of the station onto Moana Lane. Fire season has ended, but house fire season is just now hitting a peak. Portable space heaters and electrical overloads are the top 2 causes of house fires in the wintertime. Reno Fire Battalion Chief Seth Williams told us, “People are using more appliances often to keep the house warm, typically heating elements draw a heavy load."
Across town, at Sun Valley Truckee Meadows Fire Station #15, Firefighter Paramedic Travis Johnson can't get one bad fire from just a month ago out of his mind: "All the residents of the home got out safely, because they had smoke detectors and they were able to notify us and we were able to salvage the house for them."
For a happy ending where smoke alarms saved lives, you don't have to go any farther than any fire station…these firefighters have stories. But while most every house has a smoke detector, too many just don't work. Chief Williams told us, "Typically it's the batteries. 9 times out of 10 that's the biggest problem…the batteries."
It's something these firefighters hear time and time again after a house fire. The home that burned had a smoke detector, but it wasn't working. Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District Captain Brian Bunn told us it's “very problematic. Like here in Sun Valley, we probably go out 3 or 4 times a month and help folks change smoke detectors or change batteries."
Captain Bunn also wants new smoke alarms in every house. And many that are already in homes, he'd like replaced…because if your home was built before 2004, your smoke alarms are not reliable. As he told us, "All smoke detectors should be replaced every 10 years, or when the manufacturer says. Completely replaced."
You should also have one in every bedroom, and on every level. And when it's time to change batteries, install the new 10-year lithium battery back-up smoke alarms in every sleeping room and hallway. Do that, and you won't have to climb that tall ladder to get that smoke alarm down, every new year.
