Smoke Detector Safety Tips

Smoke alarms save lives. Smoke alarms that are properly  installed and maintained play a vital role in reducing fire deaths and  injuries. If there is a fire in your home, smoke spreads fast and you  need smoke alarms to give you time to get out. 

• A closed door may slow the spread of smoke, heat and fire.  Install smoke alarms in every sleeping room and outside each separate  sleeping area. Install alarms on every level of the home. 
• Smoke alarms should be interconnected. When one sounds, they all sound. 
• Large homes may need extra smoke alarms.
• Test your smoke alarms at least once a month. Press the test button to be sure the alarm is working.
• Today’s smoke alarms will be more technologically advanced to  respond to a multitude of fire conditions, yet mitigate false alarms.
• When a smoke alarm sounds, get outside and stay outside.
• Replace all smoke alarms in your home every 10 years.

• In 2009-2013, smoke alarms sounded in more than half (53%) of the home fires reported to U.S. fire departments.
• Three of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms (38%) or no working smoke alarms (21%).
• No smoke alarms were present in almost two out of every five (38%) home fire deaths.  
• The death rate per 100 reported home fires was more than twice  as high in homes that did not have any working smoke alarms compared to  the rate in homes with working smoke alarms (1.18 deaths vs. 0.53 deaths  per 100 fires).
• In fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not  operate, almost half (46%) of the smoke alarms had missing or  disconnected batteries. 
• Dead batteries caused one-quarter (24%) of the smoke alarm failures.

Source: NFPA's "Smoke Alarms in U.S. Home Fires" report