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Smoke Alarms
Media stories can save lives! A news story about a residential fire provides a valuable opportunity to give your community a safety message during a teachable moment. Drop in these prevention tips and facts, and you just might save a life.
All U.S. homes should have working smoke alarms.
Fire injuries and deaths can be prevented. A few easy steps can save your life!
- Install a smoke alarm on every floor of your home, even the basement.
- Install a smoke alarm outside every sleeping area. Ideally, install smoke alarms in every sleeping area, too.
- Test smoke alarms monthly.
- Change the batteries at least once a year-maybe at Daylight Savings Time or on your birthday.
- Teach children what your smoke alarm sounds like and what to do if they hear it-get out and crawl low under smoke.
- Never disable a smoke alarm (like for cooking smoke). Consider alarms with hush buttons.
- Never remove a smoke alarm battery for some other use, like a radio or video game.
- Keep smoke alarms clean. Vacuum them often.
- Replace smoke alarms after 10 years.
- Choose smoke alarms that come with 10-year batteries.
Important
The United States Fire Administration recommends the installation of both ionization and photoelectric or dual sensor smoke alarms. For extra safety, install smoke alarms both inside and outside sleeping areas.
Smoke Alarm Facts
- Having a working smoke alarm cuts the risk of dying in a home fire in half.
- Nine out of 10 homes have smoke alarms, but millions of those alarms do not work.
- Missing or dead batteries are the main causes of non-working smoke alarms.
- More than 3 out of 5 home fire deaths occur in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.