The Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD) and First Alert, a safety brand company, will team up as part of the “For a Safer Place Campaign” event Saturday, October 29 to educate the community on threats of fire and carbon monoxide (CO).

The event will be held at Lowe’s, located at 2840 North Bellflower Boulevard, and will offer fun, family-focused fire and CO safety activities from 9:00AM to 12:00PM.

“In order to help decrease home fire and CO poisoning incidents, people must be equipped with the necessary tools and knowledge,” said First Alert Vice President of Marketing Tom Russo in a statement. “Through our partnership with participating local fire departments, we hope to help ensure the long-term safety and sustainability of communities nationwide.”

Educational handouts about the importance of equipping homes with smoke and fire alarms will be handed to adults, and kids will receive firefighter hats and worksheets, according to First Alert. Children will also be able to participate in fire safety activities, such as building wooden fire trucks as part of Lowe’s “Build and Grow” program. Participants will receive a project kit equipped with goggles, an apron and fire safety patch.

Each year about 3,000 Americans die from home fires and 450 from CO poisoning, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Additionally, NFPA officials said fires with no smoke alarms cause an average of 940 deaths (38 percent) per year and 510 people (21 percent) are fatally injured in fires because smoke alarms fail to operate.

The NFPA and U.S. Fire Administration recommend that homes have smoke alarms installed in every room and one CO alarm on each level of the house, including the basement. The average-sized home, two-story, three bedroom house,needs a minimum of five smoke alarms and four carbon monoxide alarms.

A California law requires all battery-operated smoke alarms to contain a non-replaceable, non-removable battery that powers the alarm for a minimum of 10 years.

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