Smoke alarms are an essential part of home fire safety.
To keep your family safe from fire, remember and make use of the following information. Your lives may depend on it.

WHY SMOKE ALARMS?
In the U.S., roughly 80 percent of fire deaths result from fires in homes without working smoke alarms. In fact, half of home fire deaths occur in the six percent of homes without any smoke alarms.

BUY THE BEST
Smoke alarms can be electrically connected, battery powered, or a combination of both. This combination of power sources and a pause feature to reduce nuisance alarms are highly recommended.

ONE ALARM IS NOT ENOUGH
The National Fire Alarm code recommends a minimum of one smoke alarm on each level of a home, including one alarm inside each bedroom, in new construction, and one outside each sleeping area.

INSTALL ALARMS CORRECTLY
Because smoke rises, alarms should be placed on the ceiling. If this can’t be done, install them as high on the wall as possible. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully. Avoid locating alarms near bathrooms, heating appliances, windows, or ceiling fans

TEST YOUR ALARMS REGULARLY
Every month, test your smoke alarms by pushing the “test” button. Then test them using smoke from a smoldering cotton string. Follow testing instructions in your owner’s manual.

GENTLY VACUUM YOUR SMOKE ALARMS EVERY SIX MONTHS
Dust can clog a smoke alarm, making it ineffective. Carefully vacuum the inside of a battery-powered unit using a soft bristle brush. If your alarms are electrically connected, turn off the power and vacuum the outside vents only. Test your alarms after cleaning them.

REPLACE YOUR OLD ALARMS
Smoke alarms don’t last forever. Those more than 10 years old should be replaced.

SMOKE ALARMS VERSUS HEAT DETECTORS
Fire officials in Minnesota are often questioned by the public as to the performance of smoke alarms versus heat detectors when installed to provide early life saving warning in the residential environment. State Fire Marshal Division personnel also receive similar questions concerning the requirements for smoke alarms in residential buildings as required by the 2007 Minnesota State Fire Code.

Full-scale fire tests conducted since the 1960’s have shown that smoke alarms are more reliable than heat detectors for early warning to provide live safety in homes. In the January/February 1993 NFPA Journal, Bukowski summarizes 10 independent studies comprising over 200 experiments that prove this point.

SMOKE ALARMS IN RESIDENTIAL OCCUPANCIES
Experience and full scale testing has shown that typical residential fires produce detectable quantities of smoke prior to detectable levels of heat in nearly all cases. In addition, slowly developing, smoldering fires may produce incapacitating and even lethal levels of smoke and toxic gases without any significant increase in room temperature. The Minnesota State Fire Marshal acknowledges that approved heat detectors installed in areas not appropriate for smoke alarms installation such as furnace rooms, garages and unfinished attics, may provide some additional warning in the case of a fire confined to these areas. The State Fire Marshal will not accept heat detectors as an alternative or equal to smoke alarms in locations requiring the installations of smoke alarms.

IONIZATION VERSUS PHOTOELECTRIC ALARMS
In cases where smoke alarms are subject to frequent false alarming due to cooking, smoking or similar causes, the State Fire Marshal encourages the installation of photoelectric smoke alarms as they are not as susceptible to these types of false activation.

Studies have shown that ionization alarms are better at detecting small, invisible particles of combustion that are typically present from fast, hot, flaming fires. These studies have also shown that photoelectric alarms are better at detecting larger, visible smoke particles that are more commonly seen from slow, smoldering fires. Both types of smoke alarms have been shown to be effective in detecting typical residential-type fires. Some research seems to indicate that photoelectric alarms may activate slightly sooner as many residential fires start out as slow, smoldering fires.

PLAN YOUR ESCAPE
Working smoke alarms are essential, but they don’t save lives unless everyone knows how to get out of the house safely. The peak time for residential fires is between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.  Make sure everyone knows how to escape when the alarm sounds, whether awake or sleeping at the time. Plan two ways out of each room and a pre-arranged meeting place outside.

 

The information provided above was obtained from the website of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, State Fire Marshal. For more information we encourage you to visit www.dps.state.mn.us/fmarshal/PublicEducation/HomeFireSafety.html#SmokeDetectorInformation