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Be safer: Check your smoke alarms, Fire Department urges

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The Laguna Beach Fire Department is encouraging residents to check their smoke alarms and install new ones if necessary in preparation for national Fire Prevention Week that begins Sunday and runs through Oct. 10.

Laguna is partnering with the National Fire Protection Assn. to spread awareness during the week, themed “Hear the Beep Where You Sleep.”

Half of deaths related to home fires in the U.S. occur between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., when most people are asleep, according to a news release.

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The fire department offers the following tips to help residents stay safe: Test smoke alarms at least once a month using the test button, ensuring everyone in your home recognizes the sound and knows two evacuation routes out of each room; if a smoke alarm “chirps”, indicating a low battery, replace the battery immediately; replace smoke alarms if they do not respond properly when tested; and never remove or disable a working smoke alarm.

Laguna’s fire department offers free batteries, installation and smoke alarms for residents who own houses, not apartments. To participate in the program, visit lagunabeachcity.net and complete the “Free Smoke Alarm” sign-up form.

A representative from the department will make contact and schedule an appointment to determine how many detectors are needed and install them. Detectors are only needed on each floor, not in every room.

The department will also host its annual open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 10 at each of the city’s four fire stations.

Residents can meet the firefighters, tour the engines and stations and ask questions.

Late October will mark 22 years since the Laguna fire ravaged the city, demolishing more than 400 homes while burning more than 14,300 acres.

Fire Prevention Week began in 1922 in memory of the 1871 Chicago fire that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless and destroyed more than 17,400 structures, according to the Fire Protection Assn. website.

Laguna’s four fire stations are at: 501 Forest Ave., 285 Agate St., 2900 Alta Laguna Blvd. and 31646 Second Ave.

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