Is Your Smoke Alarm Protecting You?

5/9/2022 (Permalink)

Every house has them, not all houses have them on. According to the National Fire Prevention Association:

• In 2014-2018, smoke alarms sounded in more than half (54%) of the home fires reported to U.S. fire departments.
• Almost three of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms (41%) or no working smoke alarms (16%).
• The death rate per 1,000 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 (13.0 deaths vs. 5.8 deaths per 1,000 fires).
• In fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate, two of every five (41%) of the smoke alarms had missing or disconnected batteries.
• Dead batteries caused one-quarter (26%) of the smoke alarm failures.

There are plenty of resources online for properly maintaining the specific smoke alarm you have, if you need more help you can contact an electrician, American Red Cross, or local fire department. Alarms, in addition to maintaining power, should be tested monthly with the test button.

SERVPRO of North Highlands / Rio Linda are professionals when it comes to fire and smoke restoration and clean up. If you do have fire or smoke damage give us a call 24/7 at 916-991-1522.