Have You Tested Your Smoke Detector Recently?

Smoke Detectors
A Sound You Can Live With!

WHAT ARE SMOKE DETECTORS?
            A smoke detector monitors the air and sounds an alarm when it detects smoke or other products of combustion, thereby providing you with early warning of fire in time to escape.

Replacing detectors after 10 years protects against the accumulated chance of failure, but monthly testing is still your first, best means of making sure detectors work. Today's detectors are even less vulnerable than the original detectors. Regular maintenance of the more sophisticated systems used in larger buildings can keep them working very reliably for many decades.

• Vacuum or dust your smoke detector regularly.
• Test your smoke detectors at least once a month by pressing the "test button".
• Replace batteries once a year or when your smoke detector chirps indicating the battery is low. Also, replace the battery when moving into a new home.
• Keep batteries in smoke detectors; do not borrow them for other purposes. Nuisance activations can be addressed by moving am alarm farther away from kitchen smoke or bathroom steam and by more frequent cleaning. If the problem persists, replace the alarm.
• Replace your smoke detector once every 10 years. Also, replace smoke detectors when moving into a new home unless you know that the smoke detectors are new.
• Above all else, remember the battery is most important. A missing, dead, or disconnected battery could mean live or death.

The following is a safety check list which may help to reduce the chance of a fire starting in your home:

• Smoking in bead is the leading cause of residential fire deaths.  Avoid smoking in bed!
• Keep the furnace, regardless of type, in proper working order.
• Use portable heaters as instructed by the manufacturer.   Never use portable heaters or kitchen stove as a primary means of heating your home.
• Use extreme caution when using electric extension cords.   Do not use worn out or frayed extension cords or run extension cords or other electrical service cords under rungs or furniture.
• Keep an eye on your cooking.   Avoid leaving food cooking on a store unattended.   Cooking related fires are a leading cause of residential fire incidents throughout the State

            You will be taking important steps improving total fire protection for you and your family by properly equipping your home and smoke detectors and developing a fire escape plan and practicing that plan.