Smoke Detector essay
One of the most effective ways to protect yourself and your family from a fire is to install smoke detectors in your home. Unfortunately many people don’t take advantage of the protection that smoke alarms provide. Smoke alarms can warn you of a fire when you are asleep, busy or in a different part of the house from where the fire is. Did you know that the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) urges replacing home smoke alarms after 10 years? As leaders in home safety , the NFPA also encourages you to upgrade your smoke alarms to a combination smoke/carbon monoxide alarm for double protection. Smoke detectors give early warning needed to safely escape from fire. This is critical because 85% of all fire deaths occur in the home and majority happen at night when most people are sleeping. Some statistics about Smoke detectors fully 94% of U.S homes had at least one smoke alarm as of 1997, according to NFPA , but as of 1998 40% of the home fires reported to U.S. fire department and 52% of home fire deaths still occur in small share of homes with no smoke alarm. Fire kills over 4000 and injuries more than 23,000 people each year. To prevent this make sure your smoke detector is working check your batteries, change and update your smoke detector every 10 years. A smoke alarm should be installed outside each sleeping area and on every level of a home. Alarmingly, thirty percent of these homes are equipped with non-operational detectors due to missing or dead batteries. NFPA figures also reveal that over 65% of fatal fires occur in those 10% of the homes that are not protected with smoke detectors. Two tragedies in Sussex county helped enforce the awareness level of the public concerning the importance of smoke detectors. One in October of 2000, 11 members of the Mitchell family had a fire incident in their beach home that had no smoke alarms. A few months later In January 2001 11 members of the Shelton family