Holiday makers reminded to install smoke alarms

As holiday makers prepare for their summer trips, Exelgard is reminding mobile homes, caravan and campervan owners to ensure they have working smoke alarms installed.

Legislation introduced earlier this year in NSW requires all moveable dwellings, including motor homes, campervans, caravans, holiday or park vans and annexes where people sleep, to have a smoke alarm installed. The legislation also extends to mobile homes travelling through NSW from other States and Territories.

Exelgard’s Mathew Pearson said, “The risks presented by small campervan kitchens, small appliances and gas cookers are often forgotten. Yet with the majority of domestic fatal fires occurring when people are asleep it makes sense for smoke alarms to be installed in every dwelling, whether mobile or permanent”.

“If a fire occurs there may just be a few seconds to get out of a burning caravan or campervan so the warning a smoke alarm gives can mean the difference between life and death. It may also be useful to have a fire extinguisher and fire blanket available.”

Pearson also said that holiday makers should regularly check their smoke alarms to ensure they are in proper working order. “Smoke alarms can assist in providing the precious time needed to act or escape - but to be effective they need to be in proper working order. Checking your alarm and making sure the batteries are working should be a regular task.”

Pearson recommends taking time to carefully choose a suitable smoke alarm which is compliant to Australian Standard, AS3786–1996 and is ActivFire listed. “While a smoke alarm may seem like a generic product there are actually many types to choose from. For example, a photoelectric alarm is particularly responsive to smouldering flames which are most likely to occur when people are asleep. Positioning of the smoke alarm is also important, so that it is in the best place to have maximum impact if set off by a fire,” he said.

Exelgard is the sole distributor of Exelgard and Wormald smoke alarms, which are available from Woolworths, Big W, RSEA and Australia Post outlets.