By Tyler Wright
After a house fire nearly destroyed a Belgrave Heights home last month, locals are being reminded to ensure their fire alarms are in working condition.
At around 4am on 3 April, husband and father-of-two, homeowner Sean Wilkeson, awoke to falling objects, with smoke alarms alerting his family to a fire that entered their home from outside while they slept.
“I ran down the house and when I first saw the fire through the doorway, you have all these thoughts, ‘what can I do?’ can I put the fire out? and very quickly I realised that it was out of control, there’s nothing I could do,” Mr Wilkeson said.
It’s believed a short circuit in an outdoor fridge outside the kitchen caused the blaze which gutted around 30 per cent of the family home.
“My wife rang triple zero. And at that time I was thinking I perhaps could go back into the fire area in the kitchen and try to retrieve my wallet, my keys and so on, but I realised I couldn’t get into that area again,“ Mr Wilkeson said.
“The fire had taken hold, the smoke was too thick, so then we got out and the CFA responded very quickly. Many of them are here today and they’re our neighbours and friends, and they were here and did a remarkable job in saving most of our home.
“Our local CFA Captain said if we delayed that call by just minutes, we would have lost everything.”
Belgave Heights & South Fire Brigade Captain Sean Grondman said Mr Wilkenson’s actions, alongside those of his family were “spot on“ during the fire.
“He was alerted to the fire, got the family out and called triple zero straight away, which we believe was a strong contributor to saving the property,“ Mr Grondman said.
On Monday 8 May, the CFA announced the renewal of its fire alarm campaign ahead of colder winter months and snowfall across the Alps over the weekend.
“The message today is about our campaign around bedroom essentials, and that is that having working smoke alarms in bedrooms and in living areas in our houses will give our families the greatest chance of being alerted to a fire and give us the greatest chance of them getting out safely,“ CFA Acting Chief Officer Garry Cook said.
“A lot of home heating systems, clothes dryers, all of those things that we do when the winter months are with us will see an increase in fires in households,“ Mr Cook said.
“Having working smoke alarms in your house will give you the greatest chance of being alerted should something go wrong.“
Mr Cook said while 72 per cent of fire fatalities occur in bedrooms and living areas, only 17 percent of the state’s households have working smoke alarms installed in bedrooms and living areas.
“For as little as $17, you can buy a smoke detector, install it in those living and bedroom areas, and give you and your family the greatest chance of survival.”
Fire Rescue Victoria’s Assistant Chief Fire Officer of Community Resilience Darren McQuade said new technologies – including electrical batteries – are an emerging risk for the fire response agency.
“Unfortunately, on average, 18 people die in Victoria from preventable house fires every year, which is a significant number, and it’s a number that’s not decreasing,“ Mr McQuade said.
“Smoke alarm campaigns are really important, because even though it’s mandatory to have smoke alarms in your home, not everyone has them.
“We know that children under 10 years of age are unlikely to wake up from a working smoke alarm, so it’s best to have smoke alarms interconnected in every bedroom so parents can wake up and evacuate their family safely.“
Currently rebuilding their home, Mr WIlkeson said there will be a connected smoke alarm system installed – including one in the kitchen roof space.
“You can see that the roof is decimated and that’s going to have to come off and be rebuilt,“ he said.
“Having lived this experience and watching our house become uninhabitable, I can’t stress enough how worthwhile checking and testing your smoke alarms can be. I had just changed one of our batteries and I’m so thankful I did.“
Fire services recommend the use of smoke alarms powered by a 10-year long life battery, and advise cleaning smoke alarms cleaned at least once a year.
Under legislation which came into effect on 29 March 2021, rental providers must ensure any smoke alarm is correctly installed in working condition and any smoke alarm is tested at least once every 12 months, among other requirements.
For more information visit the CFA website and FRV website.
