CO & Smoke Detectors

Smoke Detectors

Each year, approximately 500,000 home fires occur in the U.S. resulting in 6,000 deaths and over 100,000 serious injuries. Most of these tragedies could be avoided if smoke detectors were maintained properly. The main problem is missing or dead batteries. A working smoke detector alerts you and your family during the early stages of a fire, while you have time to make a safe exit. So mark your calendars to change your smoke detector battery when you change the clock for Daylight Savings Time. All smoke detectors need to be checked at least once a month, for both electric and battery-operated types.

Smoke Detectors are available for purchase at the village hall for a nominal fee of $8. Free replacement batteries are available to senior citizens 55 or older through the Village's Handy Man Program.

Information on the best location for your smoke detector or if you would like to schedule a time for someone from the fire department to install them, please contact the fire department at 708-447-1981. This service is free of charge for the residents of North Riverside.

For more information regarding this program or any other fire-related safety information, contact the North Riverside Fire Department at 708-447-1981. Remember...smoke detectors save lives!!!!

Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless, and tasteless gas. It is produced when any fossil fuel such as propane, natural gas, coal, oil, or gasoline is burned, and a build-up is caused by insufficient oxygen supplies. Over-exposure to CO can cause CO poisoning, which can lead to serious illness, even death.

Carbon Monoxide detectors are getting a lot of attention in the fight against CO poisoning. While the first line of defense is a regular inspection of your heating and ventilation system by a qualified contractor, a CO detector can be a useful second line of defense.

Install CO detectors nearest to bedrooms as possible, since you are most vulnerable to CO poisoning while sleeping. If your bedrooms are in different parts of the house, place separate detectors near each bedroom area. Additional CO detectors located at different levels of your home adds an extra measure of safety. Do not install in kitchens, garages, or furnace rooms.

It usually takes several hours or more for CO to increase to dangerous levels. If your CO detector goes off, get out of the house immediately and call 911 from another location. The 911 dispatcher will dispatch the fire department.

Carbon Monoxide Detector Law

The North Riverside Fire Department reminds you that Illinois State Law requires every dwelling unit to have at least one approved carbon monoxide alarm in an operating condition within 5 feet of every room used for sleeping purposes. Alarms can be battery-powered, plug-in with battery backup, or wired into the AC power line with a secondary battery backup. The alarm can be combined with smoke-detecting devices if the combined unit complies with specific standards and the alarm differentiates the hazard. This law requires homeowners and landlords to install carbon monoxide detectors in all buildings containing bedrooms and sleeping facilities. Primary features of the law are:

• A "dwelling unit" means a room or suite of rooms used for human habitation and includes single-family residences, multiple-family residences, and mixed-use buildings.
• If a structure contains more than one "dwelling unit," an alarm must be installed within 15 feet of every sleeping room in each "dwelling unit."
• The owner must supply and install all required alarms. A landlord must ensure that the alarms are operable on the start date of a lease. The tenant is then responsible for testing and maintaining the alarm. A landlord is required to furnish one tenant per dwelling unit with written information regarding testing and maintenance.

To read the Illinois Carbon Monoxide Alarm Detector Act in its entirety, go to Illinois General Assembly or feel free to contact the North Riverside Fire Department at 708-447-1981 for more information about carbon monoxide, the silent killer. Did you know that carbon monoxide is the number 1 cause of poisoning in North America? Carbon monoxide is difficult to detect as it is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and toxic gas produced as a byproduct of combustion. Because you can't see, taste, or smell it, carbon monoxide can kill you before you know it is there.