The Importance of Proper Smoke Detector Placement and Practice

Friday, 30 October 2020 16:38

Owning a home is a major milestone for any family. When you are renting your house, it never really feels like it’s yours. You can decorate it, paint walls if it’s OK with the property owner, and add your personality, but you can only personalize it so much. Ultimately, you’re in someone else’s space. However, when you buy your home or build a house, it is truly yours.

It is something you want to protect, and you want to keep the occupants safe as well. One of the most frightening thoughts about homeownership is the potential for fire.

That potential becomes a reality for hundreds of thousands of people each year. It is vital for you and your family to practice proper fire safety. One of the most important factors of fire safety includes the placement of smoke detectors and alarms. In this post, we are discussing residential fire safety and smoke detectors.

How Much Should I Be Concerned About Residential Fire Safety?

Each year well over a million and structures catch fire. Over 350,000 of those structural fires are residential homes, in which families occupy. This leads to tens of thousands of injuries each year and between 2,00 and 3,000 fatalities. Furthermore, buyers account for upwards of $25 million and damage annually.

Most of those fires are not the result of arson or foul play. Common causes include:

Cooking accidents lead to a significant portion of house fires.
Christmas trees that dry out are often a tinderbox leading to house fires.
Unattended candles and open flames account for many house fires each year.
Faulty electrical wiring and malfunctioning appliances make up a portion as well.
Lightning strikes and children playing with fire are also common causes.

Should you be concerned about fire? Could it happen to you? Unfortunately, yes, it is possible to be impacted by a fire in your home.

The Importance of Fire Defector Placement

According to the national fire protection agency, death is twice as likely a house fire and smoke alarms are not present or working properly. There are few things more important to your family safety than the proper placement of working smoke detectors.

The NFPA recommends smoke detectors in all sleeping areas in the home, even bedrooms that may not be in regular use. They should also be placed in hallways, living rooms, and kitchens. And while this may seem extreme, smoke detectors should be placed in attic’s and basements as well. they sell them used areas of your home can still be the first-place fire develops; therefore, it is vital to your safety to be able to detect the first traces of smoke.

If areas of your home have vaulted or high ceilings, smoke detectors should not be placed at the apex. Have your smoke detectors installed within 3 feet of the high point in the ceiling, but lower on the wall.

It is not enough to simply have smoke detectors present in your home. They need to be operational at all times. That means, when your smoke detector is beeping to indicate low battery, it is vital to replace the battery. Firefighters respond to numerous calls each year at homes where smoke detectors were present but not working due to dead batteries, or the units were turned off, unplugged, or not working properly.

Other Residential Fire Safety Tips

Having properly placed and operational smoke detectors is one of the most important things you can do to protect yourself and your family from fire, but here are a few additional tips.

Make sure you have a plan in place for you and your family.
Practice your plan by doing fire drills with the whole family including the kids.
Make sure children know what to do in case of fire, including testing a door to see how warm it is when they see smoke, how to crawl below the smoke, and how to stop, drop, and roll.
Make sure everyone in the family knows the rendezvous point for getting out of the house. If you have not designated a place to meet, make sure you do that and communicate it with the family.
Make sure everyone in the home understands how and when to call 911. The first priority in case of a fire is getting out of the home safely.
Have someone demonstrate how to use a fire extinguisher.

Wow these fire safety tips will help keep you safe, it is always important to refresh your fire plan, and practice what to do if it happens. Fire does not have to be inevitable, but it is something for which you should be prepared. In addition to smoke detectors, and proper fire safety plan procedures, one important thing you can do for your home and family is have a residential fire alarm system installed. This will help alert you and authorities to fire, even if you are not home. If you want to know more about smoke detectors, residential fire alarms, and fire safety practices, contact integrity security in North Wilkesboro. This will help alert you and authorities to fire, even if you are not home.

If you want to know more about smoke detectors, residential fire alarms, and fire safety practices, contact Integrity Security in North Wilkesboro. We are here to help you protect what matters most: your family and your property.