Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. Interconnect all smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound. Read all of NFPA's smoke alarm safety tips and download our free safety tip sheet.
AUDIO Chris Dubay, NFPA Vice President of Codes & Standards, talks about smoke alarms:
Smoke alarms that are properly installed and maintained play a vital role in reducing fire deaths and injuries. Having a working smoke alarm cuts the chances of dying in a reported fire in half.
Family activity - check your smoke alarms! Download a calendar tearsheet(PDF, 228 KB), and put it in an important place in your home. Remember to have a grown-up test your smoke alarms once a month. Tear off the correct month when the test is finished!
Smoke alarm basics Sharon Gamache, NFPA Director of High-Risk Outreach Programs, talks about basic smoke alarm safety tips. Watch larger format.
Facts & figures
Ninety-six percent of all homes have at least one smoke alarm, according to a 2010 telephone survey. Overall, three-quarters of all U.S. homes have at least one working smoke alarm.
Almost two-thirds of home fire deaths in 2005-2009 resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
When smoke alarms fail to operate, it is usually because batteries are missing, disconnected or dead. Almost one-quarter of the smoke alarm failures was due to dead batteries.
Keeping Your Community Safe and Sound This tool kit on smoke alarms includes everything you’ll need to motivate residents to install and maintain smoke alarms in the home.
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