There is no doubt that smoke alarms save lives. As historical data reveals, the cooler months of Autumn and Winter pose heightened risks for house fires. It's during these seasons that ensuring your portfolio is compliant and your tenants are safe becomes paramount.

The trend has remained consistent over the last two decades and remains the driver for fire departments across Australia calling for fire safety vigilance as the cool weather approaches.

Fire and Rescue Victoria Deputy Commissioner Community Safety Joshua Fischer said,

“In an emergency, every second counts and having working smoke alarms in the sleeping and living areas of your home will ensure you are alerted promptly in the event of a fire, buying you and your family precious time to escape.

We want all Victorians to be aware that the colder months are some of the riskiest times of the year for fires in the home."

The sentiment is shared by government and fire services around the country, including in New South Wales, which saw nine people die last winter in residential fires. Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell said,

"They are terrible losses of life that were in the most part, preventable. A working smoke alarm may have saved some of those people. Stop procrastinating, make a deliberate decision to check the status of your smoke alarms right now and ensure you and your loved ones are protected.

...that inexpensive, small device on the ceiling may mean the difference between you getting out of a fire alive and tragedy.”

Detector Inspector’s data reveals that more than one in three properties are failing to meet smoke alarm regulations.

We know that smoke alarms can be taken for granted. It's important to ensure smoke alarms are being checked annually and maintained regularly to ensure they are ready to do their job when called upon.