NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

December 17, 1998

Prevent a Holiday Disaster Now by Checking Your Smoke Detectors

With your decorations in place, packages wrapped and lights strung, you're ready for the holidays. But are your smoke detectors? More than half of the structural fires every year are residential fires resulting in the loss of thousands—and up to$3 billion—of personal property.

"A large proportion of these fires do occur during the holidays," notes George Maher, a safety specialist with the North Dakota State University Extension Service.

That's a good reason to make checking your smoke detectors a part of your holiday preparation tradition. Maher says, "Smoke detectors save lives. But a smoke detector that does not work cannot save anyone."

Expense is no excuse to ignore smoke detector maintenance. "Most detectors use a nine-volt battery which often costs less than $2. Often a new detector, including the battery, can be bought for about $5," Maher says.

Never remove a smoke detector battery to power a new Christmas toy or other gift, he says. "Almost every year we hear a tragic story about an entire family that is lost in a house fire because the battery was removed to power a toy. Also, lives have been lost because a family member was irritated at the chirping sound indicating the time for battery replacement."

Now is the best time to get a step ladder and put the smoke detector through its test sequencejust to be sure it works.

Every smoke detector has a test button that checks the electrical circuits and smoke sensor and causes the detector to sound the alarmtelling you that it works. Most detectors emit a chirping sound or pop out a flag to let you know the battery needs replacing.

At least once every month, especially during the heating season, each smoke detector should be checked by pressing the button. Always replace the battery when it is weak.

Smoke detectors that are hard wired (powered with the 120-volt house electricity) do not have batteries. But they also should be tested for good performance. If a hard-wired smoke detector is found to be unreliable, replace it immediately. It is good practice to have a battery-powered detector as a backup to the 120-volt detector.

Often, smoke detectors are removed or disabled because they give off nuisance alarms. Common causes include: a poorly located detector, cooking, an improperly adjusted fireplace or space heater, smoking and excessive humidity.

"The solution is not to shut off the smoke detector, but eliminate the cause of the nuisance alarms," Maher notes. "Sometimes it helps to move smoke detectors to a slightly different location or to try a different brand of detector."

There should be a smoke detector on each floor of the house. The closer the detector is to potential fire sources such as the kitchen, hot water heater, furnace, fireplace or wood stove, the more time you may have to escape, Maher notes. The bedroom area of the house is the most important area to protect since you are not likely to discover the fire while sleeping. Stairwells and hallways are other important areas to protect since they are escape paths from the dwelling.

###

Source: George Maher (701) 231-8288

Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629