WORKING SMOKE ALARMS CAN PROVIDE GIFT OF LIFE

It's something to get alarmed about. The lack of working smoke alarms can do more than ruin a Christmas celebration, it could mean the permanent cancellation of any future holidays.

The newly-formed Cape Girardeau Area Safe Kids Coalition is spearheading Project "Get Alarmed." They are working with fire departments in Cape Girardeau, Scott City and Jackson, as well as other interested groups such as Zonta, to encourage smoke alarm use. Zonta, alone, has distributed hundreds of smoke alarms to the community since 1987. The Safe Kids coalition is sponsored by St. Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri Hospital.

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department estimates that 75 percent of homes in the area have the minimum recommended number of smoke detectors. That percentage is too low, especially when you consider that only about 60 percent of them are maintained. Too many smoke alarms are improperly installed, defective or have a dead battery.

Without proper protection, home owners are simply playing with fire especially where kids and elderly people are involved.

While fire prevention is important year round, the holiday season calls for increased safeguards. Electric lights, overloaded circuits or fraying cords, dried out trees, flammable decorations, and holiday candles all pose serious fire hazards.

Fires during the winter season, particularly during the holidays, kill more people than at any other time of the year. And most of these deadly fires occur at night when the family is sleeping. Winter naturally brings increased use of heating devices or electric blankets, and the potential for problems. Fireplaces and woodburning stoves also need proper attention and maintenance.

The fire department recommends that all homes have at least one working smoke detector on each level. A smoke alarm in each bedroom would be ideal.

In too many fatal fires across the nation, smoke alarms are lacking. Nationally, more than 1,200 children died in house fires last year - most as the result of smoke inhalation. How many of these deaths and injuries could have been avoided with an inexpensive, working smoke alarm?

Of course, when you don't have money to pay for essentials, smoke alarms may seem unnecessary. That's why projects spearheaded by local organizations to give free smoke alarms are so meaningful. In this Christmas season, a smoke alarm may be a wonderful gift. Or, if you have a smoke alarm, this might be the time to put in a new battery. What better gift can we give this holiday season than one of life?