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New Canaan Fire Marshal: Change Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries

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This Sunday November 5 at 2 am marks the end of daylight savings. We will “fall back” moving the clock to 1 am, gaining an extra hour of sleep. The New Canaan Fire Marshal’s Office and the New Canaan Fire Department want to remind everyone this is the perfect time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors. By being proactive this also helps avoid that annoying “chirp” that inevitably starts at 3 in the morning! 

Smoke alarms with non-replaceable 10 year batteries are designed to remain effective for up to 10 years. If the alarm chirps indicating a low battery, replace the entire smoke alarm right away.

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New Canaan Fire Marshal on ‘Home Heating Equipment Safety’

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Heating equipment is a leading cause of fires in U.S. homes. These homes include one- and two-family homes and apartments including townhouses and other multi-family dwellings, according to NFPA research. Space heaters were most often responsible for home heating equipment fires from 2015 to 2019, accounting for more than two in five fires as well as the vast majority of deaths and injuries. Approximately two in five home heating equipment fires involved equipment that relied upon a solid fuel such as a wood burning or pellet stove or wood burning fireplace. Smoke inhalation resulting from spread throughout the home is the leading cause of injury and death in home fires.

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New Canaan Fire Marshal’s ‘Halloween Safety Tips’

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Halloween is a fun and spooky time of year for kids. Make trick-or-treating safe for your children with a few easy safety tips:

When choosing a costume stay away from long, trailing fabric. If your child is wearing a mask, make sure the eye holes are large enough to see out. Provide children with flashlights to carry or use glow sticks as part of their costume. Dried flowers, corn stalks and crepe paper catch fire easily.

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New Canaan Fire Marshal: Cooking Fire Safety

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October 8-14, 2023 is National Fire Prevention week. This year’s focus is “Cooking Safety starts with YOU. Pay attention to fire prevention.”

Cooking related fire is one of the most common causes of home fires (not to mention automatic alarms!).  Following are a few tips on cooking safety so your meals can be as uneventful as they are delicious:
Many cooking fires occur when pots are placed on the stove to warm and then we get distracted by a phone call, a child calling or an interesting home repair show. To help avoid this set the timer for 3 – 5 minutes as a reminder to come back and check. If a pot catches fire NEVER carry the pot to the sink, outdoors, etc.

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New Canaan Fire Marshal: Hurricane Preparedness

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It’s that time of year again, we are at the peak of the hurricane season. With many active systems currently forming in the Atlantic, I would urge all residents to make preparations if you have not already sone so. Our emergency operations director, Russ Kimes, offers some tips in the New Canaanite. In addition, residents are advised to do the following:

Service your generator annually and have adequate fuel on hand. Have enough batteries on hand for lighting lanterns and candles (battery operated candles and lanterns are a better option than an open flame).