Smoke alarms or smoke detectors have saved thousands of lives. Thanks to most local
fire departments most homes and businesses now require smoke alarms. Smoke detectors
are your first line of defense against fire and can cut the risk of dying
in a home fire in half.
Even though smoke alarms (home fire alarms)
can be a nuisance when you burn toast, inexpensive household smoke detectors
can mean that every member of your family gets out of a burning house alive.
Since more than half of all fatal home fires happen at nighttime, a fire alarm
might be the only warning sound that is able to wake you and give your family enough
time to escape.
National Fire Prevention Week teaches the general public
about the importance of smoke alarms, how to react in a fire and how to maintain
smoke detectors. A smoke detector is basically an electrical circuit
that gets interrupted by particles. A fire sends miniscule particles into the
air, when these tiny particles reach the smoke detector they interfere with the
electric circuit and alert a microchip. A smoke alarm's microchip is programmed
to send a signal and set off the alarm.
* Install smoke alarms near bedrooms - high on a wall or ceiling.
* Don't install
smoke alarms near air vents.
* Test smoke alarms once a month to ensure
they work.
* Test smoke alarm batteries regularly and change them every
6-12 months.
* Replace detectors that are more than 10 years old.
* For the best fire protection install both an ionization smoke detector (for
fast burning flames) a photoelectric smoke alarm (for smoldering fires). |
