EVANSTON, IL - On Wednesday, November 6, at 12 noon, The Evanston Fire Department in conjunction with the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance will hold a press conference at Fire Station 1, 1332 Emerson St., to educate the public on an important new smoke detector law.

PA 100-0200 will require smoke detectors with a 10-year sealed battery to be installed in all dwellings either built before 1988 or which do not already have hardwired smoke detectors.

In 2018, there were over 100 residential fire deaths in Illinois. The majority of these deaths are occurring in homes without working smoke detectors. The General Assembly passed PA 100-0200 to address this horrific problem by requiring Illinois residents to replace their old smoke detectors with the type that contain a long-term 10-year sealed battery over the next few years.

Since 1988, the Illinois Smoke Detector Act has required all dwellings to have smoke detectors. The new requirement updates that law to reflect the changes in new technology aimed at saving lives, while making it easier and more cost effective for Illinois residents to comply.

Illinois-based First Alert, www.firstalert.com is donating smoke alarms and the tools and equipment to install the alarms to the Evanston Fire Department to help reduce the number of fire related injuries and deaths in the community.

For more information, contact Deputy Chief Paul Polep at ppolep@cityofevanston.org