News From Logan City Fire-EMs

Utah State Today received the following press release from Logan City's Fire Chief Mark Meaker. While the information is targeted for students, the message is a valuable on for everyone, faculty and staff included. Here's Chief Meaker's message.

 

 

As the time change approaches on Sunday, Oct. 30, the Logan City Fire Department wants to remind all USU students to make another change that could save their lives — changing the batteries in their smoke detectors. All on-campus student housing should already have smoke detectors that are maintained by the university. However, the Logan City Fire Department has found that many students living in off-campus housing either do not have smoke detectors or, if they do, they are often not functioning due to a missing battery.

 

Cities nationwide witness tragic home fire deaths each year. On average, nearly three people a day die in home fires. Tragically, 80 percent of those occur in residences without working smoke detectors. The most common cause of non-working smoke detectors is worn or missing batteries.

 

Changing smoke detector batteries at least once a year is the simplest, most effective way to reduce these tragic deaths. In fact, working smoke detectors cut nearly in half the risk of dying in a home fire. The peak time for residential fire fatalities is between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. when most students are sleeping. A working smoke alarm provides the extra seconds needed to get out safely.

 

The Logan City Fire Department has a program that provides free smoke detectors and/or smoke detector batteries for students who do not feel they cannot afford to purchase one. If you are a USU student living in off-campus housing and do not have a smoke detector in your residence, or you have one, but do not have a battery for it, please call the Logan City Fire Department at 716-9518 to make arrangements for the installation of a new, FREE, smoke detector or detector battery.