Protect The Ones You Love

Each year over 300,000 persons are injured and over six thousand die in this country in home fires. Many home fires occur at night while people are at home asleep, and it is believed that most begin as smoldering fires.

Protection from fires is available today by the use and proper maintenance of smoke detectors. A smoke detector in your home would increase the chances of an early warning when a fire begins and could enable you to escape safely. By sensing the rising smoke from a fire and sounding an alarm, smoke detectors can alert the occupants of homes or apartments to the presence of fires -- even while they are asleep.

An additional benefit of the smoke detector lies in the fact that most fire victims die from the inhalation of smoke and toxic gases rather than flame.

Many states and municipalities have enacted statutes that require smoke detectors in new and existing homes and apartments. Two basic kinds of smoke detectors are currently on the market: the photoelectric smoke detector which uses a beam of light and the ionization chamber smoke detector which involves electrically-charged air molecules called ions. Photoelectric detectors are somewhat more likely to give an earlier alarm while a fire is still smoldering, while ionization detectors are usually quicker to warn of open, flaming fires.

Consumers may hear arguments in favor of and against these two types of smoke detectors, but CPSC judges that, based on current information, either type can provide adequate protection from home fires.

The Commission has suggested that consumers buy a smoke detector containing a full description of its operation, instructions for proper installation, and information on the expected life of its components. Install at least one on each level of the house, on side wall or ceiling, as recommended by the manufacturer.

As few as one or two smoke detectors may be all that is needed for a basic level of protection, but one should be near each sleeping area. It is also advisable to place a smoke detector at the top of basement stairways.

Of course, CPSC has advised that the installation of additional smoke detectors can help maintain a higher level of protection. Normally, one detector for every level of the household will give adequate home protection.

If the owner of a smoke detector has a battery-operated one, we urge him or her to replace the batteries at least once a year, even if the warning device for weak batteries on some models has not sounded. Also, photoelectric bulbs should be replaced when they burn out and all detectors should be tested monthly.

CPSC strongly urges the use of smoke detectors as an inexpensive and reliable way to help protect the ones you love. Smoke detectors are also of considerable value in reducing property loss -- because detection of fires early in their development can help in the effort to extinguish them.

For a free copy of a booklet on smoke detectors write to: Smoke Detector Booklet, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, D.C. 20207 or call the toll-free CPSC Hotline at 800/638-2772.