JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Fire detection plays a vital role in providing fire safety in protecting people, property and contents, in contrast to 50 years ago, when automatic fire detection was a rarity in any facility.
The National Fire Protection Association, or NFPA, publishes fire statistics each year and the leading types of fires, for injuries and deaths, are residential. However, residential fire deaths have fallen by more than 50 percent since the introduction of the residential smoke alarm.
According to the NFPA, almost three out of five home fire deaths happened in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. A 2019 NFPA report further stated that the risk of dying in reported home structure fires is 54 percent lower in homes with working smoke alarms than in homes with no alarms or none that worked.
Smoke alarms are a key part of a home fire escape plan. When there is a fire, smoke spreads fast. Working smoke alarms give people an early warning so they can get outside quickly.
The NFPA gives several smoke alarm safety tips:
- A closed door may slow the spread of smoke, heat and fire.
- Install smoke alarms in every sleeping room and outside each separate sleeping area. Install alarms on every level of the home. Install alarms in the basement. Smoke alarms should be interconnected. When one sounds, they all sound.
- Large homes may need extra smoke alarms.
- It is best to use interconnected smoke alarms. When one smoke alarm sounds they all sound.
- Test all smoke alarms at least once a month. Press the test button to be sure the alarm is working.
- There are two kinds of alarms. Ionization smoke alarms are quicker to warn about flaming fires. Photoelectric alarms are quicker to warn about smoldering fires. It is best to use both types of alarms in the home.
- A smoke alarm should be on the ceiling or high on a wall. Keep smoke alarms away from the kitchen to reduce false alarms. They should be at least 10 feet (3 meters) from the stove.
- People who are hard of hearing or deaf can use special alarms. These alarms have strobe lights and bed shakers.
- Replace all smoke alarms when they are 10 years old.
Your ability to get out of your house during a fire depends on advance warning from smoke alarms and advance planning.
- Get everyone in your household together and make a home escape plan. Walk through your home and look for two ways out of every room.
- Make sure escape routes are clear of debris and doors and windows open easily. Windows with security bars or grills should have an emergency release device.
- Plan an outside meeting place where everyone will meet once they have escaped. A good meeting place is something permanent, like a tree, light pole, or mailbox that is a safe distance in front of the home.
- If there are infants, older adults, family members with mobility limitations or children who do not wake to the sound of the smoke alarm, make sure that someone is assigned to assist them in the event of an emergency.
- If the smoke alarm sounds, get outside and stay outside. Respond quickly – get up and go, remember to know two ways out of every room, get yourself outside quickly, and go to your outside meeting place with your family.
Here are some facts and figures about smoke alarms:
- Of the home fires reported to U.S. fire departments, smoke alarms sounded in more than half (53 percent) of the home fires.
- Three of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms (38 percent) or no working smoke alarms (21 percent).
- No smoke alarms were present in almost two out of every five (38 percent) home fire deaths.
- The death rate per 100 reported home fires was more than twice as high in homes that did not have any working smoke alarms compared to the rate in homes with working smoke alarms (1.18 deaths vs. 0.53 deaths per 100 fires).
- In fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate, almost half (46 percent) of the smoke alarms had missing or disconnected batteries.
- Dead batteries caused one quarter (24 percent) of the smoke alarm failures.
For more information about fire safety, visit the National Fire Prevention Association website at https://www.nfpa.org/education or contact the Joint Base San Antonio fire prevention offices at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston at 210-221-2727, at JBSA-Lackland at 210-671-2921, or at JBSA-Randolph at 210-652-6915.