Smoke Detectors

Nearly 4,000 Americans die every year in house fires. Most of these deaths are not from heat or flames but from breathing smoke and toxic fumes.

When a smoke detector senses smoke, an alarm automatically sounds. Most fatal home fires occur between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. Fires often generate lethal amounts of unseen smoke and fumes well before flames are visible and before heat makes residents feel uncomfortably warm. As a result, many people who die in home fires are asleep and never wake up. When carefully installed and maintained, smoke detectors can prevent such needless deaths. Smoke detectors buy time to get out of the house before toxic fumes accumulate to lethal levels.

Working smoke detectors double an occupant's chance of surviving a fire.

Buy as many smoke detectors as it takes to give your home complete coverage. You obviously increase your chances of survival with each detector that you have, but one on each level of the house is the absolute minimum.
 You should have a smoke detector in each bedroom, in the hallway close to each sleeping area and in heavily occupied areas like the living room. Smoke detectors should be placed on or near the ceiling where smoke tends to be accumulate. Smoke detectors should not be placed directly over stoves, ovens or fireplaces. When bedroom doors are left open, you should have at least one detector in the hallway outside the bedroom area.