Firefighters, NRL stars, and top athletes urge households to install working smoke alarms as Fire and Rescue NSW launches its Winter Fire Safety Campaign. Last winter, almost half of the 1080 homes affected by fires lacked functioning smoke alarms.

Canterbury-Bankstown had the most residential fires (243), followed by inner-city Sydney (241), the Central Coast (235), and Blacktown (228), with kitchen fires being the most common. Winter 2022 saw a record 17 deaths and 87 injuries from house fires, with half of the 959 affected homes lacking working smoke alarms.

Clinton is joined by Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib, who emphases “having at least 1 working smoke alarm installed in your home will help safeguard your loved ones and provide peace of mind.”

“But the alarms must be in working order to be effective, and we are finding this isn’t the case a lot of the time. In their home safety visits, firefighters have been finding outdated and broken smoke alarms, with some even hanging from ceilings by wires.”

“I encourage residents to book a fire safety visit from a firefighter, who can install an alarm for free or make sure your alarm is functioning properly.”

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