A quarter of NSW homes do not have working smoke alarms
When compared to other states and territories, New South Wales is the worst performing state, with 25 per cent of homes without a working smoke alarm.
Fire and Rescue New South Wales investigations discovered 56 per cent of home fire deaths in New South Wales were in homes without a working smoke alarm.
The research also revealed the state’s firefighters attended more than 3,500 home fires in 2017, with the fatality rate of home fires double that of bushfires.
Smoke Alarm Solutions CEO Cameron Davis said he’s stunned 25 per cent of properties in New South Wales would currently fail a simple health assessment.
“Working smoke alarms should be in every home, but a quarter of New South Wales residents are gambling with their safety and the lives of their loved ones,” he says.
"Nobody thinks it’ll happen to them, but home fires will claim two lives in New South Wales this month.
“Families and landlords have a responsibility to ensure their properties are safe. There is no better place to start than with an up-to-date and working smoke alarm.”
Smoke alarms mitigating dangers of fire
New South Wales legislation requires all residents to have at least one working smoke alarm installed on each level of the premises. This includes owner-occupied homes, rental properties, relocatable homes, caravans, moveable dwellings or any other residential building where people sleep.
The four most common causes of home fires in Australia are unattended or abandoned cooking, electrical failure, overheating and mechanical failure.
Smoke Alarm Solutions provides a comprehensive risk-mitigation service throughout Eastern Australia, which ensures landlords adhere to their legislative responsibilities, property managers meet their duty of care requirements and tenants are safe from the dangers of fire.
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[1] Fire and Rescue NSW
[2] Fire and Rescue ACT
[3] Metropolitan Fire Brigade
[4] Queensland Fire and Emergency Service
[5] SA Metropolitan Fire Service data