By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
CFA members have spent the last few weeks urging Casey residents to change their smoke alarms and clocks in the nick of time.
CFA Brigade Support Officers Kylie Dickerson and Jane Barber visited several shopping centres in the municipality, including Cranbourne Centro and Fountain Gate, to encourage shoppers to change the batteries in their smoke alarms when they changed their clocks for daylight savings on Sunday.
Ms Dickerson said the campaign was a success, with close to 300 people engaging with the campaign.
“Quite a lot of people actually came over to us,” she said.
“We set up the display and as people came up we passed them pamphlets.
“Majority of them were really responsive but it was surprising to find out how many people either didn’t have working smoke alarms or the batteries had gone flat and they hadn’t put new ones in.”
Smoke alarms have a 10 year life and need to be replaced after each decade.
The date of manufacture or replacement is displayed on the alarm.
During the campaign the officers were joined by CFA volunteers from the Cranbourne and Hampton Park depots, with those involved even handing out free batteries to interested passers-by.
Ms Dickerson said the campaign targetted for a range of people, some of whom may come from backgrounds where smoke alarms and their subsequent maintenance are alien to them.
“A lot of multicultural people, new immigrants, don’t even know what a smoke alarm is,” she said.
“And we have a lot of multicultural people here in Casey.
“Elderly citizens are another group who are not overly aware about smoke alarms.”
Victoria’s fire services recommend long-lasting alkaline batteries for smoke alarms, while photoelectric alarms are also recommended.
The CFA advises that there be at least one smoke alarm on each level of a resident’s house, and one in every bedroom where a person sleeps with the door closed.
For more information visit www.cfa.vic.gov.au/plan-prepare/smoke-alarms.
