Homeowners must focus on both the location and age of their smoke alarms to ensure family members will wake up during an overnight fire, says a safety expert.
Statistics from the United States show that at least one-half of all home fire deaths occur between 11pm and 7am, the time when most people are asleep. Canadian officials are certain the same trend exists here.
To emphasize the importance of being awakened during an overnight fire emergency, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has coined its theme for its 2015 Fire Prevention Week – “Hear The Beep Where You Sleep: Every Bedroom Needs A Working Smoke Alarm.”
Across North America, from Oct. 4 to 10, fire departments will be out en masse reinforcing the basics of home fire safety. Fire Prevention Week garners huge support in Canada, so much so that classroom educational programs for teachers, primary school visits by firefighters and a myriad other special community events extend the week into a month-long safety campaign.
“We know that smoke alarms at least double your family’s chance of a safe escape. But to provide that critical early warning, they need to be installed in all the right locations and they need to be working,” says Carol Heller, a home safety specialist with smoke and carbon monoxide alarm manufacturer Kidde Canada.
Although most cities, towns, provinces and territories have adopted their own version of Canada’s Building Code at a minimum, one smoke or combination smoke/CO alarm should be installed outside every sleeping area of a home.
“Fire Prevention Week is a great time to remind people that if you’ve taken down a smoke alarm after burning the toast and forgotten to put it back up, or removed batteries and left an alarm unpowered, you are placing your family at severe risk,” Heller adds.
“This is not a trivial issue. In almost two-thirds of fatal house fires, investigators find that smoke alarms were either not present, or, were missing batteries.”
Heller’s other cautionary advice centres on aging smoke alarms. She is quick to point out that even if an alarm sounds when you push its Test button, that only means circuits are working and power is getting to the unit. It does not mean the alarm’s sensors are operating at full sensitivity.
After being exposed to years of dust, cooking grime, pet fur and other airborne contaminants Heller warns that sensors could lose responsiveness.
That’s why the NFPA recommends that if your smoke alarm is more than 10 years old or you can’t remember its age, whether it is hardwired or battery powered, replace it immediately. For CO alarms, any models purchased prior to 2009 should also be replaced.
Heller also notes that latest-generation alarm technology can help provide peace of mind.
“Talking alarms that call out a warning in addition to beeping can help wake sleeping family members,” says Heller.
Specifically designed for installation in or right outside the bedroom, the Kidde Worry Free Bedroom Smoke Alarm features a voice alarm that says the words “fire, fire” in both English and French, which accompanies an 85 decibel alarm tone.
Having a 10-year lithium battery sealed inside the alarm, a feature of all Worry-Free models, makes the alarms virtually tamper-proof and eliminates the risk associated with disabling the alarm.
Special options also exist for the hearing impaired. The Kidde Strobe Light is designed to be used in conjunction with smoke, CO or heat alarms in interconnected systems.
The strobe light provides a bright visual signal, over and above the 85db beep. The strobe flashes once per second.
Find more Fire Prevention Week tips and smoke alarm installation advice at safeathome.ca.
