{"id":33038,"date":"2025-06-04T18:32:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T08:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=33038"},"modified":"2025-06-04T18:32:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T08:32:15","slug":"residents-warned-to-check-smoke-alarms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2025\/06\/04\/residents-warned-to-check-smoke-alarms\/","title":{"rendered":"RESIDENTS WARNED TO CHECK SMOKE ALARMS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AS WINTER BEGINS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NSW households in the Lake Macquarie and Central Coast LGAs are<\/p>\n\n\n\n

being urged to check their smoke alarms as the Minns Labor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government launches Fire and Rescue NSW\u2019s annual \u2018Winter Fire<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safety\u2019 campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As winter begins and temperatures drop, Fire and Rescue crews<\/p>\n\n\n\n

typically see a 13 per cent increase in house fires compared with the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

rest of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 1 June to 30 August 2024, 45 fires broke out on the Central Coast<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and 19 in the Lake Macquarie district, with 29 and 68 per cent of those<\/p>\n\n\n\n

homes respectively, not having working smoke alarms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout 2024 there were 3,674 home fires, killing 25 people across<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NSW. In 45 per cent of these homes, there was no working smoke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

alarm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fire and Rescue NSW continues to urge the community to remain<\/p>\n\n\n\n

vigilant around the use of lithium-ion batteries this winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been 115 lithium-ion battery incidents in NSW so far this<\/p>\n\n\n\n

year, with 42 related to e-bikes and e-scooters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devices with lithium-ion batteries should be handled with care. Always<\/p>\n\n\n\n

follow safe charging, storage, and disposal practices to prevent fires,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

explosions and other possible hazards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A working smoke alarm provides the earliest and most effective warning<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of a fire, giving residents the chance to get out and call triple zero (000).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of the public can book a free fire safety visit and have a new<\/p>\n\n\n\n

smoke alarm installed all year round by visiting<\/p>\n\n\n\n

www.fire.nsw.gov.au\/visits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OFFICIALOFFICIAL<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis winter the NSW Government wants to ensure households have a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

working smoke alarm installed. They can give residents the crucial<\/p>\n\n\n\n

seconds needed to get everyone out safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my own community of Bankstown, dozens of fires broke out in homes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

last winter, and more than half of those homes didn\u2019t have a working<\/p>\n\n\n\n

smoke alarm installed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you need help, our firefighters are here for you. To test a smoke alarm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

please book a safety visit through the Fire and Rescue NSW website or<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by calling your local fire station.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Member for Swansea, Yasmin Catley said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had quite a few house fires in Lake Macquarie and the Central<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coast last winter, and sadly, many didn\u2019t have working smoke alarms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWorking smoke alarms can save lives – don\u2019t risk it. Take a minute to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

check yours or get them installed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf your smoke alarms are broken or missing, call your local brigade for a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

free Fire Safety Visit and they\u2019ll install them free of charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe risk of fires in our homes increases during the colder months as we<\/p>\n\n\n\n

try to stay warm and cook more hot meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKeep looking when cooking \u2013 never leave cooking unattended and don\u2019t<\/p>\n\n\n\n

throw water onto a fat fire as it will intensify the flames \u2013 use a fire<\/p>\n\n\n\n

blanket or extinguisher instead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AS WINTER BEGINS NSW households in the Lake Macquarie and Central Coast LGAs are being urged to check their smoke alarms as the Minns Labor Government launches Fire and Rescue NSW\u2019s annual \u2018Winter Fire Safety\u2019 campaign. As winter begins and temperatures drop, Fire and Rescue crews typically see a 13 per cent increase in house … Continue reading “RESIDENTS WARNED TO CHECK SMOKE ALARMS”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33038"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33039,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33038\/revisions\/33039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}