WARNING: Please read carefully and thoroughly.
• NFPA 72 states: Fire-warning equipment for residential occupancies
are capable of protecting about half of the occupants in potentially
fatal fires. Victims are often intimate with the fire, too old or too
young, or physically or mentally impaired such that they cannot
escape even when warned early enough that escape should be
possible. For these people, other strategies such as protection-in-place
or assisted escape or rescue would be necessary.
• Smoke alarms are devices that can provide early warning of
possible fires at a reasonable cost; however, alarms have
sensing limitations. Ionization sensing alarms may detect
invisible fire particles (associated with fast flaming fires) sooner
than photoelectric alarms. Photoelectric sensing alarms may
detect visible fire particles (associated with slow smouldering
fires) sooner than ionization alarms. Home fires develop in
different ways and are often unpredictable. Neither type of
alarm (photoelectric or ionization) is always best, and a given
alarm may not always provide warning of a fire.
• A battery powered alarm must have a battery of the specified
type, in good condition and installed properly.
• AC powered alarms (without battery backup) will not operate
if the AC power has been cut off, such as by an electrical fire
or an open fuse.
• Smoke alarms must be tested regularly to make sure the
batteries and the alarm circuits are in good operating
condition.
• Smoke alarms cannot provide an alarm if smoke does not
reach the alarm. Therefore, smoke alarms may not sense fires
starting in chimneys, walls, on roofs, on the other side of a
closed door or on a different floor.
• If the alarm is located outside the sleeping area or on a
different floor, it may not wake up a sound sleeper.
• The use of alcohol or drugs may also impair one’s ability to
hear the smoke alarm. For maximum protection, a smoke
alarm should be installed in each sleeping area on every level
of a home.
• Although smoke alarms can help save lives by providing an
early warning of a fire, they are not a substitute for an
insurance policy. Home owners, landlords and tenants should
have adequate insurance to protect their lives and property.
Fire Safety
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