Let us give you one (or more) very important reasons...
While smoke alarms have helped save countless lives over the past 30 years, research has shown that children younger than 16 may not reliably wake up when the alarm sounds. The fact that children or family members with special needs may sleep through the sound of a smoke alarm must be taken into account when creating your personalized family fire escape plan.
The CHFD, CPSC, USFA, the National Fire Protection Association, International Association of Fire Chiefs, and International Association of Fire Fighters all recommend that families conduct a fire escape drill either late at night or early in the morning. This drill can help parents determine if their children will be awakened by and able to respond to the sound of a smoke alarm.For those children who do not respond, the traditional fire escape plan of everyone simply meeting at a common location outside the home may leave them at risk. Fire Safety educators encourage parents and caregivers to consider the potential of assisting children and others with special needs in getting to a safe location when an alarm activates during sleeping hours.
"No community can put a firefighter on every street corner. Everyone can, however, put a firefighter on duty 24 hours a day and 7 days a week by having and using working smoke alarms in their homes", said USFA Acting Administrator Charlie Dickinson.
"Smoke alarms save lives - everyone should have working alarms on each floor of their house and inside every bedroom", said CPSC Acting Chair Nancy Nord. "So that even more lives can be saved in the future, the fire safety community is currently working to improve smoke alarm audibility for children."
You should also replace your smoke alarms every 10 years since the sensors in these devices degrade due to age and contamination.
In addition to replacing batteries in smoke alarms at least once every year, the LAFD, CPSC and USFA recommend testing smoke alarms monthly. Battery backup is an important consideration for those alarms that are powered by your home’s electrical system.
Between 1999 and 2003, there were an estimated 356,000 unintentionally set residential fires reported to fire departments annually. These fires resulted in an estimated annual average of 2,500 deaths and 14,000 injuries.
CPSC staff came to the following conclusions about children and smoke alarms in a 2004 report on this issue:
- Children under the age of 16 have longer periods of deep sleep compared to adults- Current smoke alarms do not reliably wake children under the age of 16.
- Various home configurations and locations of smoke alarms can limit the transmission of sound throughout the house.
- Interconnected smoke alarms can provide earlier warning of smoke and fire and placing them inside bedrooms may provide improved warning when bedroom doors are closed.
To learn more about fire safety in your home, please visit our website at www.cherryhillfire.org.
