With a rash of fires over the last few months, the Chatham-Kent Fire Service wants people to stay safe. 

Assistant Chief Chris Case says people need smoke alarms, full stop.

“We do have ones where there’s an accidental fire, the smoke alarm alerts the people, they get out of the home, they follow the plan, they dial 9-1-1, they get out, absolutely fine,” Case says. “We do notice there’s a lot of fires where people, they don’t imagine it will ever happen to them.”

Case says there were no working alarms in a Payne St. house fire in Chatham earlier this week, that left two people with non-life-threatening injures.

The Chatham-Kent Fire and Emergency Service is also reminding residents that smoke detectors do have an expiry date, and should be replaced every 10 years.