This year’s NFPA’s fire prevention week 2016 campaign is “Don’t Wait – Check the Date! Replace Smoke Alarms Every 10 Years.”
This year’s campaign is the final year of the three-year effort to educate the public about basic but essential elements of smoke alarm safety.
Why focus on smoke alarms three years in a row? Because NFPA’s research revealed a LOT of misconceptions people have about smoke alarms.
These misconceptions could put you, your family, and your business at increased risk of death from fire.
For example, only a small percentage of people know how old their smoke alarms are, or how often they need to be replaced.
Think you know enough about fire prevention?
Test your knowledge during fire prevention week 2016!
Take the NFPA’s Fire Prevention Week Interactive Quiz.
So, how’d you do? Did you get 100%?
Yeah. Me neither! So it’s important for us to keep getting the word out.
Smoke alarm Statistics
- Between 2009-2013, three out of five home fire deaths happened because the homes had no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
- Working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in reported home fires in half.
- In fires considered large enough to activate the smoke alarm, hardwired alarms operated 94% of the time, while battery powered alarms operated 80% of the time.
- When smoke alarms fail to operate, it is usually because batteries are missing, disconnected, or dead.
- 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, or where extra time is needed to awaken or assist others, both types of alarms, or combination ionization and photoelectric alarms are recommended.
As a result of NFPA’s research findings, they’re addressing the importance of smoke alarm replacement this year.
The focus of the campaign theme is on these key messages:
- Replace smoke alarms every 10 years.
- Make sure you know how old all the smoke alarms are in your home.
- To find out how old a smoke alarm is, look at the date of manufacture on the back of the alarm; the alarm should be replaced 10 years from that date.
PuroClean Emergency Recovery Services is proud to be the premiere fire and smoke damage restoration company in the Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey Region.
We’re experts at bringing properties back from disasters.
But nothing can replace loss of life or injury from fire.
The future looks bright. With education about fire prevention, we look forward to a time when property damage is the only loss folks suffer from fire.