When Clocks Spring Ahead, Don’t Forget: Change the Batteries in Your Smoke Alarm
March 3, 2009
Daylight Saving Time Begins on Sunday, March 8 at 2:00 AM;
At Least 20 Fire-Related Deaths Statewide So Far In 2009
(NEW YORK) – Just barely three months into 2009, statistics obtained by the Firemen’s Association of New York (FASNY) show a year-to-year spike in the number of fire-related fatalities statewide, excluding New York City. Eight people died in one residential fire this past January – deaths that might have been prevented if smoke detectors had been installed in the home. For Daylight Saving Time, FASNY is strongly urging every homeowner, landlord, and renter in the state of NY to install – and maintain – functioning smoke detectors.
“When we change our clocks during Daylight Saving Time which is on Sunday, March 8 at 2:00 AM, we should also change the batteries in our home smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors,” said Thomas J. Cuff, Jr., President of FASNY. “We recommend that homeowners dust or vacuum their smoke detectors to keep them free of debris, and replace the alarms every ten years. In addition, a smoke detector should be installed on every floor of a home.”
According to the latest data available from the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control (OFPC), 73 people died in house fires statewide, excluding NYC, in 2007. (2008 statistics have not been released.) If January’s pace of home fire deaths keeps up, 2009 could be the deadliest year for fire fatalities in recent memory. (Please note that New York City tracks its own fatality numbers independently.)
“Smoke detectors are the best way to protect your home and family in detecting a fire and providing them the opportunity for escape from a building involved in fire. Most fire deaths and injuries occur at night while victims are asleep and most vulnerable,” said New York State Fire Administrator Floyd A. Madison. “Smoke alarms provide early warning, allowing occupant’s vital time to escape a fire, and most fire deaths are caused by toxic smoke, not flames. We urge every household to have at least one working smoke detector in the home, prepare a home fire safety exit plan, and to practice this plan routinely as a means to aid family members in swiftly exiting their home should a fire be detected.”
This past holiday season was a particularly deadly one: According to preliminary data from the U.S. Fire Administration, more than 158 fatal fires resulted in more than 200 deaths nationwide from Thanksgiving of last year through the first week of January. (These statistics were compiled based on media reports.)
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that fire departments responded to almost 400,000 house fires nationally in 2007. These fires caused 2,865 civilian deaths and 13,600 civilian injuries, as well as $7.4 billion in direct damage. Almost two-thirds (65%) of reported home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
Here are some tips provided by the NFPA:
- Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. Interconnect all smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.
- An ionization smoke alarm is generally more responsive to flaming fires, and a photoelectric smoke alarm is generally more responsive to smoldering fires. For the best protection, both types of alarms or a combination alarm (photoelectric and ionization) should be installed in homes. Smoke rises; install smoke alarms following manufacturer's instructions high on a wall or on a ceiling. Save manufacturer's instructions for testing and maintenance.
- Test alarms at least monthly by pushing the test button.
- Replace batteries in all smoke alarms at least twice a year. If an alarm “chirps”, warning the battery is low, replace the battery right away.
- Replace all smoke alarms, including alarms that use 10-year batteries and hard-wired alarms, when they are 10 years old or sooner if they do not respond properly.
- Be sure the smoke alarm has the label of a recognized testing laboratory.
- Alarms that are hard-wired (and include battery backup) must be installed by a qualified electrician.
- If cooking fumes or steam sets off nuisance alarms, replace the alarm with an alarm that has a "hush" button. A "hush" button will reduce the alarm’s sensitivity for a short period of time.
- An ionization alarm with a hush button or a photoelectric alarm should be used if the alarm is within 20 feet of a cooking appliance.
- Smoke alarms that include a recordable voice announcement in addition to the usual alarm sound, may be helpful in waking children through the use of a familiar voice.
- Smoke alarms are available for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. These devices use strobe lights. Vibration devices can be added to these alarms.
- Smoke alarms are an important part of a home fire escape plan.
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