Help Prevent Home Fire Deaths, Check Smoke Alarms

NFPA's report, "Smoke Alarms in U.S. Home Fires," reveals that two-thirds of the deaths caused by home fires were a result of those homes not having working smoke alarms. The report, which analyzed data from 2005 to 2009, also revealed that hardwired smoke alarms are more reliable than battery powered alarms and that 38% of all home fire deaths resulted from fires where no smoke alarms were present.

"We know you can have as little as 3 minutes to get out if you have a fire before it becomes deadly," says NFPA's Lorraine Carli. "The early warning provided by smoke alarms give you extra time to escape." To  help ensure home fire safety, the agency recommends interconnecting all smoke alarms in the home; using a combination of photoelectric (responsive to smoldering fires) and ionization (responsive to flaming fires) alarms; and testing all alarms at least once a month.