It is quite horrifying to think that in the USA there is one  needless death every three hours.
  Do you have a smoke alarm installed in your home?
  Many people died in apartments as well as homes, so do not  think of a smoke alarm as simply protecting the equity that you have in your  property; a smoke alarm can be and is a life-saver.

According to numbers from the National Fire Prevention  Association, some groups are at higher risk than others. These are children  under five years old and also the elderly. Figures show these two age groups  have double the national risk of dying in a fire.

Of course, smoking is the overall highest risk factor for  home fires, but in the winter months, faulty heating equipment causes almost  the same number of deaths. This means that home safety such as old wiring  systems, drying clothes over an unprotected heater, unsafe gas fires,  un-serviced clothes dryers, chimneys and wood fires could all represent danger.

Many of us do have smoke alarms already in our homes; but as  soon as they go off when the bacon is over-heating we disconnect them! Yes, it  is a nuisance that some of them seem to be over sensitive, but instead of  disconnecting them, it is wiser to keep a ventilation fan running while you are  frying on a high heat.

A once a month check on battery strength is also advised as  well as keeping a smoke alarm on the same floor as the one where the family is  sleeping. In the year of 2006, over 2,600 people died in American fires. The  USA has the highest annual death rate from fires than any civilized country.

Some countries have actually legislated fire protection;  Australia has a mandatory smoke alarm law for all new homes, and several areas  require a smoke alarm in all homes; as does the Canadian province of Ontario.

There are two types of smoke alarms - photoelectric and  ionization. For those who do not yet have a smoke alarm installed, you should  be aware that a photoelectric smoke alarm is the best type for detecting the  type of smoldering smoke fire. This type of alarm will respond to smoldering  smoke within three to five minutes. Since the majority of fires happen when  people are sleeping at night, this would imply that they start slowly, i.e.  smoldering, and unnoticed at first.

Toxic smoke causes the majority of deaths in house fires, as  opposed to flames which does the most damage to the home. That is why, in the  bedroom area of the house, this is the advisable type of smoke alarm.

The ionization alarms detect the type of fire that may break  out in a kitchen and where flames ignite quickly. When it comes to smoldering  smoke they can take as long as twenty minutes to sound.

Here is a list of pointers to look for when buying a new  smoke alarm:

A button to turn the alarm off if temporary alarms sound  when you burn the toast!
  An escape light that goes on automatically is available in  some alarms; in a power cut it will light your way out.
  Many come with a test button that works by shining a  flashlight on it to test its readiness.
  The safest type of alarm is one that is mains connected with  a battery backup.

Some are operated by a ten year lithium battery.

Buy wisely and sleep well!

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