Save a home...save a life

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

Hi there,

A bit of a serious one.

 

My OH has asked me to post this...he was a Fire Safety officer.

 

There has been a lot of news coverage about the terrible loss of life in a Queensland house fire.

 

Smoke alarms should have prevented this. Although not the case here, it's common at this time of year for the batteries to be removed and put into kids toys.

Please take the time to check the batteries (or replace them) in your smoke alarms. Smoke alarms only last for 10 years so maybe they need replacing.

 

At the same time...do you have a garden hose connected to a tap...and does it reach everywhere in your house? I was doing some repairs at my rental house in Christies 4 weeks ago when I heard sirens. When I went outside there was smoke billowing from the back of the house accross the road. The crowd in the street informed me that my OH had just run accross the road and was behind the house. Anyway...there was a hose in the back garden and he prevented the burning shed from spreading to the caravan in the driveway. I don't recommend getting involved if it's dangerous to do so but a garden hose can save thousands of dollars before the fire service arrives.

 

At this time of year it's critical to have a hose connected to a tap in case of bush fires and flying embers.

 

Just a couple of things that hopefully you never need to call upon.

 

Tamara

[Guest Guest5035]

we always change our batteries in the 2 alarms out of the 3 we have, every 6 months, Jan 1st/July 1st, the other is hard wired.

 

stevo

[Mr Technical]

Thanks for this Tamara, very useful advice.

[Guest Adelaide_bound]

Just wanted to chip in with your smoke alarm can be a thing of Beauty as well - should be on sale in Oz soon in 2012 apparently, but in the meantime you can get them from Firebox in the UK (don't know if they ship to Oz, or if a friend can ship it on/put it in their container for anyone etc). I am slightly obsessed by this btw, and really really want a few for our new place:

 

http://chick-a-dee.com.au/

[Toni]

Just wanted to chip in with your smoke alarm can be a thing of Beauty as well - should be on sale in Oz soon in 2012 apparently, but in the meantime you can get them from Firebox in the UK (don't know if they ship to Oz, or if a friend can ship it on/put it in their container for anyone etc). I am slightly obsessed by this btw, and really really want a few for our new place:

 

http://chick-a-dee.com.au/

 

 

Wow...thanks they look great - what a brilliant idea.....I think that people should wait until they past the Australian standards before they buy any from overseas though because if they don't comply and anything untoward should happen then your insurance won't cover you. Definitely on my list.

[coolerking]

Thanks for this Tamara.

 

I phoned my aunty and uncle last night and found out that their drier had exploded in the cellar and was ablaze. Uncle was in bed and aunty thought it was fireworks but opened the cellar door to find thick, black smoke coming out.

 

They had no smoke detectors and she could have easily been in bed. Definitely going to have some extra ones.

 

Cooler

[Guest 21TWillis]

Hi Tamara thanks for the firealarm updates, hope yr feeling much better.

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

Thanks for the feedback!

 

We have a mixture of different smoke alarms. We have hard wired with battery backup and also 10 year lithium sealed alarms and also ones with lights. Anything near a kitchen, bathroom or laudry needs to have a photoelectric alarm otherwise you will get nothing but false alarms with the ionisation type and you will take the battery out because it drives you crazy with false alarms.

 

When it comes to smoke alarms there's no compromise. Our own house (and all our rentals) have smoke alarms in every room. I thought that it was just overkill until the OH explained about electrical fires and children and fire play...no point in having a smoke alarm in a passage if kids are playing with matches in a bedroom and the door is closed!

 

My hubby spent 25 years in the fire service and he used to be in tears every time he came home and a child had died in a house fire...sometimes entire families and almost always at night...all preventable for a few dollars.

 

Go and visit your local Bunnings!

 

Tamara

[Jessica Berry]

We now have our hosepipe attached to the outside tap and hope we never need to use it. Thank you for the good advice.

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

This is still so important.

I changed all the batteries in April and replaced a few some alarms.

For all those new arrivals your local hardware chains all stock smoke alarms and the 10 year lithium battery ones have come down in price.

Still the same message folks...

 

"Wake Up and get a working Smoke Alarm"