Smoke alarms work, but not forever : Successes and ongoing challenges from BC's working smoke alarm campaign

The conclusion of the 2012 report was to issue a challenge to the communities of BC to work collaboratively to ensure there is a present, functioning smoke alarm in every home in the province. [...] The BC Smoke Alarms Movement and the Purpose of this Research Shortly after the publication of the 2012 report, in March 2012, the BC Smoke Alarm Movement was launched by the then Justice Minister and Attorney General of BC, the Honourable Shirley Bond and Minister of Children and Family Development, the Honourable Stephanie Cadieux. [...] In light of all of this activity and consistent with the initial challenge to undertake ongoing evaluation of the smoke alarm functionality in BC, this report provides some statistical analysis of the state of play for residential structure fires in BC up to the end of 2014. [...] Remembering that Table 1 demonstrated the rate of present, functioning smoke alarms had increased to 39% for the province over this time period, Figure 6 clearly demonstrates the increased smoke alarm coverage in the majority of the municipalities in the lower mainland relative to the 2009-11 time period. [...] With respect to the age and sex of fire-related fatalities in this time period, the following summarise the main findings: x 59% of the fire fatalities across the time period were male; x When the fires occurred in the presence of a working smoke alarm, this trend reversed, where 65% of fatalities were female; x The age of the fatality was known in 230 of the 234 cases.