Commentary: The installation of smoke alarms in at-risk residences by Chicago firefighters for a couple of hours on a Saturday or Sunday could make the life-or-death difference for many people.
Chicago firefighter Felix McAfee walks to his firetruck after passing out 10-year smoke detectors to residents in the 1600 block of North Mayfield Avenue on Dec. 22, 2022.
In 2010, the Chicago Fire Department was awarded a Fire Prevention and Safety grant by the Department of Homeland Security for which it received 16,000 long-life, 10-year lithium-powered smoke alarms with additional funding for 6-foot step ladders and cordless drills. The plan was to kick-start a fire safety Community Risk Reduction program designed to reduce the number of people killed and injured in homes and apartments determined to be at risk of having a fire.
” reported missing or nonworking smoke alarms as the most common code violation in buildings that had fatal fires. Had the Department of Buildings notified the CFD of the missing or nonworking smoke alarms, the CFD could have sent firefighters to install working smoke alarms in those at-risk buildings, which would have alerted occupants and allowed them time to safely escape.
The CFD’s current practice of hanging bagged smoke alarms on doorknobs of neighboring homes and apartments after a fire death has occurred on a given block isthat yields no usable data with respect to fire safety process, impact and outcomes. Chicago lags behind cities with lower fire fatality rates because it refuses to develop a comprehensive community risk reduction program that uses proven, data-driven fire prevention strategies.
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