Smoke-Alarm Guide - FDNY Fire Zone

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	Do you know what causes most people to get hurt—or die—in a fire? It's not the flames; it's the smoke. Having working smoke alarms is the best way to prevent a fire from causing harm to your home and family. Since speed matters so much in a fire, properly maintained smoke alarms are the best early warning system that something is wrong.


		Are all the batteries in your smoke alarms working properly? They should be tested once a month, by pressing the "test" button on each alarm's face. If the alarm is high up on a wall or ceiling, simply use a broom handle to help you reach the button. They also should be replaced at least once a year, or as soon as the alarm "chirps" (that's a warning that the battery is low). One thing to consider is installing "long-life" (10 year) batteries in your smoke alarms. Have any batteries been "borrowed" from smoke alarms for other uses? If so, they should be replaced immediately. Smoke alarms can't help you if their batteries are missing. Have any batteries been removed from smoke alarms because they keep going off? If so, replace the batteries immediately and re-locate the alarm farther away from the kitchen or bathroom, where smoke or steam may be causing it to sound. Are any of your smoke alarms more than ten years old (ask an adult)? If so, replace them—they simply wear out after a while. If you can't remember how old yours is, it's probably time to replace it. For more information about battery-powered smoke alarms, go to www.nfpa.org/


		Does your family sleep with their doors closed? If so, you may want to install hard-wired smoke alarms, which use the electricity in your home to operate. This can give everyone in your home an early warning, because hard-wired alarms can all be connected so that every alarms sounds when one goes off. Do you have hard-wired smoke alarms in your house? If so, make sure they have a battery as a "back up", because hard-wired alarms won't work if the electricity goes off. Check and change these batteries as you would with any smoke alarm. For more information about hard-wired smoke alarms, go to www.nfpa.org/


		Have smoke alarms been installed on every level of your home? If not, one should be—including the basement. There should be a smoke alarm outside every sleeping area. Has each smoke alarm been mounted high up on a wall or on the ceiling? (remember, smoke rises!) Smoke alarms on the ceiling should be at least four inches away from the nearest wall. Smoke alarms on the wall should be at least twelve inches away from the ceiling. Is your house new? If so, the law requires you to have a smoke alarm inside every sleeping room, and they all need to be connected to each other. Does your home have slanted ceilings? If so, install the smoke alarm near the highest point. Have any smoke alarms been mounted near windows, doors or vents? If so, they should be moved, because drafts of air might prevent the alarm from working correctly. For more information about smoke alarm installation, go to www.nfpa.org/

I coudn't stand the racket of the smoke alarm...so I pulled the batteries out!

Who knew? Things don't even need to be touching a space heater to catch on fire!

It was so confusing in the smoke. And all that stuff I'd kept in the hallway—it was like being caught in a spider's web!