Sparky's Life
Sparky's Life
EP 18 A Wake-Up Call for Smoke Alarm Awareness
The episode discusses the vital importance of maintaining functional smoke alarms, with a personal story illustrating the severe consequences of negligence. The hosts stress regular checks and compliance to ensure the safety of homes and spark necessary conversations around fire prevention.
• Importance of working smoke alarms for safety
• A personal account of a near kitchen fire due to non-working alarms
• Necessity of annual checks and professional maintenance
• Technical details about various types of smoke alarms
• Emotional aspect of personal responsibility in fire safety
• Encouragement to share and discuss fire safety practices
Making sure you have working smoke alarms inside your home or your investment property.
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Hello everyone, welcome to Sparky's Life. I'm your host, brant Dilko. Today on the show we'll be talking about an interesting story about smoke alarms. Have some fun facts about smoke alarms and the quote of the week and some nice music to end off the show. So let's get the show started.
Speaker 1:Today I want to talk about smoke alarms. You must have working smoke alarms. You must have working smoke alarms that are in current date. You must have working smoke alarms that are in current date and are tested and batteries replaced every 12 months by a qualified smoke alarm technician. Or you can choose to have a 10 year lithium battery smoke alarm. These units don't need changing for 10 years, but you still need to check them every 12 months to make sure they are still operational.
Speaker 1:The reason I am telling you this today is just recently I was in a roof cavity getting ready to replace a consumers mains cable. From the point of attachment to the switchboard of an older style, timber had clattered house. That's when I started to smell something burning. I was thinking to myself if I touch something inside the roof that has started a fire, or is a cable on fire? All these scenarios were popping in my head. I was trying to work out in my head what was happening. The power had been turned off and isolated before I got into the roof space. Now I could see and smell smoke entering the roof cavity. In my head I was saying to myself what is going on here and what is on fire? I looked back towards the manhole with my torch and I could see the smoke was coming from the kitchen which was below the manhole. So I knew something was going on in the kitchen. I was also thinking why aren't the smoke alarms going off? Why am I not hearing the smoke alarms going off, although the power was turned off? The battery should be working inside the smoke alarms. I always carry a two-way radio with me when I'm on site to communicate with other electricians on the site. So I radioed Helen to come into the kitchen to find out what was happening.
Speaker 1:When Helen entered the house she discovered the kitchen was full of smoke. What had happened? The elderly homeowner was boiling a pot of water on his gas stove so he could make himself a cup of coffee. He had a big wooden cover like a giant bread board that he places over the gas burners for extra bench space in the kitchen when he took the pot off the gas burner. He forgot to turn the burner off and he sat this board on the burner. The wooden board started to smoulder and flames were coming from underneath it. Helen quickly turned off the gas burner and ran the board outside and threw it on the front lawn. The owner didn't realise that his kitchen was minutes away from a full-on fire.
Speaker 1:With me up inside the roof cavity. We discovered that the smoke alarms weren't working. The owner had non-working smoke alarms. This could have been a major incident if we weren't there to turn the gas off. If we weren't there to turn the gas off. I also consider myself very lucky that we caught this incident before it turned into a kitchen fire, because I am still in the roof cavity with a colour bond roof above me and the manhole is situated above the kitchen. There is no way of getting out unless I kick a hole in the roof and jump down into another room.
Speaker 1:Every job we go to now, we always check that they have smoke alarms. We check that they are working and in date. Not always are these devices installed in the correct positions, not enough devices installed and not interlinked with other devices, and most times there are no smoke alarms at all. So we have to advise the client of the fact and make recommendations to have them installed. We are doing our due diligence and making homes safe. Clients are so proud when we ask them about their devices. They tell us how good the units are and they're the originals that were installed when the house was built and we change the batteries every 12 months and they're still going strong. And they're so proud of themselves. So we asked to check them. We find that the units don't work and sometimes are 10 to 15 years out of date. We also find that the smoke alarms are not hardwired into the electrical system, they are just battery operated only and nearly all the time the battery units are also out of date and don't work. So remember, for your own safety, the safety of your family, the safety of your friends, the safety of your tenants, the safety of tradespeople working in your home, it is your responsibility to have working smoke alarms inside your home or your investment property. Make sure you have working smoke alarms inside your home or your investment property. Make sure you have working smoke alarms and thank you for listening to our safety announcement.
Speaker 1:Hi there, I'm Grant Doolko. If this is your first time here at Sparky's Life welcome. It's great to have you here and if you're back here for more, welcome back and thank you for your loyalty and support. If you like what you hear on today's show, make sure you share this podcast with your mates who are electricians or who are involved in the tradie world. I want to reach out and help as many tradies as I can with this podcast. I want to reach out and help as many tradeses as I can with this podcast. I want to help tradespeople break through to the next level in their career and in their lives. I have some interesting facts about smoke alarms.
Speaker 1:The smoke alarm units are hardwired into the lighting circuit of the electrical system or sometimes, depending on the number of units, they may be on their own electrical circuit. They also have a battery backup inside the unit. The 9 volt battery needs to be replaced every 12 months, unless the unit has an internal 3 volt rechargeable battery. Both the 9 volt and 3 volt smoke alarm devices need to be replaced every 10 years, but they both need to be checked every 12 months for maintenance and operational purposes. They are always located outside of the bedrooms or where there are sleeping arrangements. The devices are interlinked together with a control cable if there is more than one device installed. That way, if one sounds off, they all sound off together. Wireless alarms are now available if the installation doesn't allow the interconnecting of a control cable between the devices.
Speaker 1:Smoke alarm devices are photoelectric. Photoelectric smoke alarms are better for detecting slow burning and smouldering fires. Burning and smouldering fires. Never paint over your smoke alarms. Paint can block the airflow, making it more difficult for the unit to detect the presence of smoke. And always use the services of a licensed electrical contractor for all your electrical work, including smoke alarms. Now it's time for Quote of week. The quote of the week comes from Jack Handy. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you're a mile away from them and you have their shoes. So that's all for now, folks, but before I go, if there is anything you'd like me to talk about on future episodes, maybe want to ask a question or be on the show, you can do this by contacting us on any of our media sites. I'll put the links to these in the show notes, and don't forget to follow the show and leave a review. Thanks for listening to Sparky's Life. I'm your host, grant Doolko. Keep safe and catch you on the next one.
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