Every year, families are devasted by residential fires. As you set your clocks back one hour this weekend, please take a minute to do two simple things that can potentially save lives: change the batteries in the smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in your home and check to make sure that they are in good working order. If you don’t have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, please go out and purchase them. They are a cost effective way to keep your family safe. Most newer models of smoke alarms come with batteries that will last ten years but must be tested at least monthly; older models have batteries that must be changed regularly to ensure they work properly.

A majority of American homes have at least one smoke detector, but in 20 percent of those homes the smoke detectors don’t work, according to data collected by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Smoke detectors are a simple tool, but they are only effective when they work. 
When you examine deaths that occur in homes due to fire, the statistics are sobering. According to the NFPA, in 38 percent of home fire deaths, there was no smoke detector; another 24 percent of fire deaths occurred in homes where smoke detectors were not working.

In addition to replacing smoke alarm batteries annually, it’s worthwhile to test your alarm monthly by using the test button. We recommend installing at least one smoke detector on every level of your home; if you can install interconnected smoke alarms – so that when one goes off, the others sound as well – that will keep your family even safer. Ideally, you should have one smoke detector in every bedroom and one your hallway leading to your bedrooms. Every detector has a manufacturer date (MFG date) stamped on the underside. Detectors need to be replaced every 8-10 years after the date of installation. If you do not know the date when the detector was installed; use the stamped MFG date on the bottom.

Finally, make sure everyone in your home understands the warning sound of the smoke detector and knows what do if it sounds.  That means you should prepare AND practice an escape plan from your home. Make sure to try to identify two exit points from each room – this can include a window.  Practicing your plan is vital because you are more likely to remember what to do during an emergency. And be sure to designate a meeting place for your family in a spot that is a safe distance from the fire and where first responders can see you.

Keeping communities safe begins at home; by practicing good fire safety, we can keep our homes, and families, better protected.