A province wide fire safety campaign encouraging residents to test their smoke alarms is taking place today.

The campaign, according to Kenora Fire and Emergency Services Deputy Chief Dexter Hupe, comes following a jump in fire fatalities.

“Last year in Ontario there was 133 fire related deaths in the province the Ontario Fire Service got together to try and figure out how we could save even one more life.”

The result was ‘Saved by the Beep’ which promotes not only testing smoke alarms, but also fire safety and home fire escape planning.

Dryden Fire Chief Chris Wood explains due to the increase in synthetics and the use of lightweight construction in homes, working smoke alarms are extremely vital for survival.

“Historically, we had quite a bit of time to escape our homes safely, and now within even a minute or less our homes can be unsurvivable.”

Wood adds early detection and preparation is the key as the earlier you can detect a fire can get you out of your home that much sooner and safely.

So far there have been 73 fire fatalities in Ontario, and Wood is concerned that number could grow as we have yet to enter what he calls the worse part of the season which is typically the end of the year.