Georgia Marks Fire Prevention Week

Georgia is marking Fire Prevention Week this week.

State Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner Ralph Hudgens is using this week to make sure that Georgia residents have working smoke alarms in their homes.

Georgia law requires a smoke alarm in every home and Commissioner Hudgens said people should install working smoke alarms on every level of the home, as well as inside and outside of each sleeping area.

Hudgens said people should also test their smoke alarms monthly to make sure the batteries are still working.

The safety fire commissioner said most fatal fires start between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., while a family is asleep.

Hudgens added that 9 out of 10 fire victims are already dead before the fire department is even called, mainly from smoke and toxic gases, saying that the advance warning of a smoke alarm can mean the difference between life and death.

So far in 2014, Hudgens said fire has claimed the lives of 81 Georgians, with 56 of those deaths occurring in residential housing.

Furthermore, in 39 of the residential housing deaths, fire investigators were unable to determine if a working smoke alarm was present.

Hudgens said if a smoke alarm sounds, people should go to the closest exit.

He went on to say that if someone must exit through smoke, get low and go under the smoke.

Once out of the house, Hudgens said people need to stay out of the house, noting that fatalities occur every year when people try to go back inside a burning home, usually to retrieve possessions.