SafeTips
Smoke Alarms

Mishap Data

• Smoke alarms have contributed to an almost 50% decrease in fire deaths since the late 1970s.
• An estimated 890 lives could be saved each year if all homes had working smoke alarms.
• Sixty-five percent of home-fire deaths in a recent 5-year period were in homes that didn’t have smoke alarms or where the smoke alarms didn’t work.
• In about thirty percent of the fires in homes that have smoke alarms, the devices did not work--usually because the batteries are dead, missing or not connected.

Do’s and Don’ts

• To be prepared when your smoke alarm starts to shriek, you must have a plan for escaping the fire. Your family should know the plan, and you should have all practiced it.
• You should have at least one smoke alarm on every floor of your home (including the basement). Experts recommend an alarm outside each bedroom, as well.
• Because smoke rises, mount your alarm near the top of the wall (about a foot from the ceiling) or on the ceiling (at least four inches from the nearest wall).
• Don't put a smoke alarm near windows, doors or forced-air outlets. Drafts can make smoke alarms less effective.
• If you are hard of hearing, you can buy smoke alarms with extra-loud alarms and strobe lights.
• Installing battery-powered smoke alarms is easy, requiring only a screw driver. Some brands are self-adhesive.
• If you install hard-wired alarms rather than battery-powered ones, have an electrician do the job.
• Test your smoke alarms at least once a month. Pick a holiday or your birthday and replace the batteries each year on that day.
• Change the batteries in your smoke alarms at least once a year, even if they aren't chirping at you to warn you that the battery is getting low.
• Don't borrow the batteries out of your smoke alarms. If smoke from a kitchen or steam from a shower is setting off an alarm, try moving the alarm to a new location.
• Replace smoke detectors every 8-10 years. Write the date of purchase with a marker on the inside of your alarm so you will know when to replace it. Some of the newer alarms already have the purchase date written inside.

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