There’s a lot going on in the world these days. Our country is fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our nation’s economy is facing some of its biggest challenges since the Great Depression.

People are also struggling to find jobs, housing values continue to decrease, and it looks like gas prices aren’t going to significantly drop anytime soon.

With all of these problems going on in the world, it’s important we don’t make life even harder on ourselves.

We need to make sure we take care of the things here that are within our own control.

One of these things is being fire safe and keeping working smoke alarms in our homes and apartments.

With winter just around the corner, residents will soon crank on furnaces and fireplaces, and the time is now to make sure smoke alarms are working properly.

As reported by the Herald’s Lee Bonorden Wednesday, a total of 2,895 fire deaths occurred in 2007 or seven each day in the United States. Total residential deaths were up from 2,580 in 2006.

Fires can happen in numerous ways, from leaving the stove on, to electrical problems, to kids playing with matches.

That’s why it’s so important to be prepared. In August, a fire broke out in an Austin duplex that had non-working smoke alarms.

We have no excuse.

The Austin Fire Department has distributed nearly 8,000 smoke alarms since 1994 and on Oct. 5, the department will distribute 250 more home smoke alarms, plus 175 lithium batteries as Fire Prevention Month kicks off.

It’s our responsibility to make sure our homes our fire safe, and thanks to the Austin Fire Department, help is available to those who need it.