The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal, Camp I Am Me by Illinois Fire Safety Alliance and the Illinois Community Risk Reduction Taskforce launched the first-ever statewide smoke alarm installation blitz the week of October 20th in conjunction with Fire Prevention Month.
“Data shows that nearly 59% of home fire deaths were caused by fires in properties with no working smoke alarms, almost three out of every five home fire deaths in the U.S. resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or non-working. These are scary statistics as fires burn hotter and faster due to synthetic construction materials in modern construction reducing escape times to less than 3 minutes,” said Illinois State Fire Marshal James A. Rivera. I encourage all departments across the state to engage with their residents and stress the importance of having working smoke alarms in their homes.”
“The Be Alarmed! Smoke Alarm Installation Program continues to help keep Illinois residents safe as departments work hard to educate their residents on the importance of having a fire escape plan and how to prevent fires, while also installing lifesaving working smoke alarms in homes,” said Philip Zaleski Executive Director Camp I Am Me by Illinois Fire Safety Alliance. Since Be Alarmed! began in 2018, Illinois Fire Departments have installed 35,000 alarms across the state. This first-ever statewide blitz also saw 10 new departments join the Be Alarmed! Fire Alarm Installation Program. We are excited to see this program continue to grow while helping make Illinois a safer place for residents to live.”
“I am proud of the amazing efforts of the staff here at the Buffalo Grove Fire Department, who were also assisted by the Buffalo Grove CERT Volunteers, as they were able to install 600 smoke alarms in just one week during the blitz,” said Buffalo Grove Fire Chief Larry Kane. “Our firefighters are committed to helping protect our residents and educate them about the importance of not only having working smoke alarms, but developing a fire escape plan that includes all the needs of every family member and making sure they know two ways out of every room in their home.”
This new initiative saw 71 Illinois fire departments canvas their communities, educating their residents on the dangers of fire in the home and ensured there were working smoke alarms properly installed. The campaign was an extension of the Be Alarmed! Smoke Alarm Installation program, a fire prevention program which distributes fire safety education materials and 10-year sealed battery smoke alarms to fire departments in the state of Illinois. The fire departments then deliver the education while installing smoke alarms in at-risk homes within their communities. Both the educational materials and the smoke alarms are provided to the fire departments at no cost as a result of funding from both Camp I Am Me and OSFM.
Blitz Data (Data listed below is what has been reported by participating departments as of 11/6/24):
- 71 – Participating fire departments
- 5,232 – Smoke alarms distributed to fire departments
- $130,800 – Equipment value provided to fire departments
- 2,351 – Smoke alarms installed by fire departments
- 743 – Homes protected with new, working smoke alarms
- 1,678 – (989 high-risk) residents protected with new, working smoke alarms
The OSFM, Camp I Am Me and the State of Illinois CRR Taskforce are planning to hold a statewide smoke alarm blitz again October 19-25, 2025.
To learn more about the Be Alarmed! Smoke Alarm Installation Program, visit https://www.ifsa.org/prevention-resources/smoke-alarm/
***Courtesy of The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal, Camp I Am Me by Illinois Fire Safety Alliance and the Illinois Community Risk Reduction Taskforce***
