Smoke alarms save lives

Smoke alarms that are properly installed and maintained play a critical role in reducing fire deaths and injuries; in fact, the risk of dying in a home fire is cut in half in homes with working smoke alarms.* Smoke alarms are a key part of your home fire escape plan. When there's a fire, smoke spreads fast. Working smoke alarms give you an early warning so you can get outside quickly. Keep yourself and your family safe by following these safety tips:

• Install smoke alarms throughout your home. Install them in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of your home—including basements and attics. Large homes may need extra smoke alarms.
• Place smoke alarms up high. Smoke alarms should be on the ceiling or high on a wall. Keep smoke alarms away from kitchen appliances (they should be at least 10 feet from the stove) and fireplaces to reduce false alarms.
• Install interconnected smoke alarms. This type of smoke alarm allows all the smoke alarms in your home to sound if one has detected smoke. They help provide improved protection and offer more escape time in a fire.
• Test your smoke alarms every month. A non-working smoke alarm may leave you and your family unprotected. To test a smoke alarm, press and hold the test button until you hear a chirp. If you don't hear anything, or the sound is quiet, it's time to replace the batteries.
• Replace the batteries at least once a year. Smoke alarms need a strong power supply to be loud. Working batteries that aren’t fresh might not have enough power to get the job done. Even if you have hardwired alarms, you should have a battery back-up in case of a power failure. We recommend you change your smoke alarm batteries the same time that you change your clocks for daylight saving time—so it's easy to remember.
• Replace smoke alarm units every 10 years. Smoke alarms don’t last forever. If you forget how old your smoke alarm is, you can usually find a date written on the back.
• Install carbon monoxide alarms. Carbon monoxide is a deadly, invisible gas formed by the incomplete combustion of fuels. In addition to smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors should also be installed throughout your home. Combination smoke and carbon monoxide detectors can be purchased at a wide variety of retail stores.
• Special alarms are available for those who are hard-of-hearing. People who are deaf or hard-of-hearing should use alarms with strobe lights. Most major smoke alarm companies offer these types of alarms.

SJFD’s Fire Engineer Josh Padron shares why it's important to install both smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors throughout your home.
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Sound The Alarm campaign

'Sound the Alarm' is a national campaign run by the American Red Cross. This campaign works to install life-saving smoke alarms in vulnerable communities while also sharing safety information and fundraising to help families prepare for, respond to, and recover from home fires. To learn more, visit www.redcross.org.

*Source: National Fire Protection Association