Smoke Alarms Did you know…

	Most fire deaths occur in homes where there are no working smoke alarms. Remember – only a working smoke alarm can save your life!

Most fatal fires occur at night when people are asleep. Often, victims never wake up. A working smoke alarm will detect smoke and sound an alarm to alert you, giving you precious time to escape.

	Smoke detectors can provide you with an early warning so you may escape a fire before it can reach you! They may be the only thing standing between your escape from a fire, or your being overcome by deadly gases in the smoke in the smoke.

Once you have your smoke detector you should make sure you test and clean them regularly. Never remove the batteries from your smoke alarm.

Be smart and have your parents install smoke detectors

Three critical points

Three critical points to surviving a home fire:

In spite of recent media coverage about children sleeping through them, smoke alarms and home escape planning are still a vital part of survival from fire. Smoke alarms have been and still are the cornerstone of fire safety technology in the home.

Statistics point to a 50% reduction in fire fatalities since the introduction of smoke alarms into the home. The vast majority of fatal fires (60%) occur in homes without smoke alarms. And a majority of those deaths that occur in homes with smoke alarms are a result of dead or missing batteries.

However, the recent news events remind us of the need to continue research in fire safety and seek to improve on successful technologies such as smoke alarms.

What is imperative at the moment is for our citizens to understand the need not to rely solely on smoke alarms as the entire answer to escaping from fire.

These recent news events serve to reinforce the need for home escape planning. Smoke alarms are a tool in the planning process. Parents need to clearly understand their supporting roles in the escape plan. After going over the plan with your family, you should conduct a walkthrough of the plan. When you feel comfortable with your plan, hold a fire drill at night (activate your alarm) while your children are sleeping so that you and they can determine the appropriate response to a smoke alarm.

Smoke alarms and automatic sprinklers do save lives but they are just tools in the home escape process. There will continue to be research done and promotion of new fire safety technologies but families need to remember that while technology is an integral part of the process, the maintenance of that technology (e.g. regular testing, replacing batteries, etc.) and incorporating planning and participation in their use will be the key to saving lives.