Information about Smoke Alarms

Two-thirds of home fires that kill children under age 5 occur in homes without a working smoke alarm.

When fire breaks out, you have only seconds to escape its powerful heat, blinding smoke, and deadly gases.

Families can dramatically increase their chances of surviving a fire simply by installing and maintaining working smoke alarms.

Install and maintain smoke alarms on every level of your home and outside of sleeping areas.

Test your smoke alarms monthly and replace the batteries at least once a year.

If you keep the door of your baby's bedroom closed, keep a working smoke alarm in the room and use a baby monitor so you can hear when the alarm sounds.

As soon as your children are old enough to understand, familiarize them with the sound of the smoke alarm.

Teach them that when one goes off, they must leave the home and go to the designated family meeting place outside.

Cut your family's chances of dying in a house fire in half by having a working smoke alarm.