The National Fire Protection Association recommends properly installing, testing, and maintaining smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in our homes and businesses.
By Alana Pierce
We were coming back from a fire recently when the talk turned to smoke detectors. One of my guys asked me how many fire deaths I’d seen. 27 was the answer. Two decades, 27 fire-related fatalities, and all had one thing in common: Not one home had a working smoke alarm.
In one of those house fires, where three occupants and two pets perished, there were five smoke detectors present—still in boxes on the kitchen table next to the Christmas paper they’d been wrapped in. Occupants woke up long enough to crawl a few feet. The unused alarms could have given them time to get themselves and their pets to safety.
The National Fire Protection Association’s 2024 statistics report found that only 7% of Americans test their smoke detectors on a monthly basis, and almost a third never test them at all. Your home could have a detector in every room, but if none work, what’s the point?
Even fewer U.S. households have working CO detectors. Carbon monoxide, unlike smoke, cannot be seen or smelled. People don’t wake up and try to escape carbon monoxide; they are normally found unresponsive or deceased in the following days.
Any home with appliances that use fuel (natural gas, propane, etc.) and homes with attached garages, should have a CO detector. Though heavier than air, the gas tends to evenly distribute in a home, so placement is not as important as simply having one. (Personally, I use the kind that is plugged into a wall outlet, about 18 inches from the floor. Be sure the CO detector is not obstructed by furniture or curtains.)
The placement of smoke detectors is different, with a recommended placement of 12 inches from the ceiling, near bedrooms, kitchens, and utility rooms. With some house fires caused by parked vehicles (which can still catch fire after the engine is turned off), it may be wise to add an additional alarm in garages and carports.
What both detectors do have in common is that steam and debris can cause both to malfunction. That brings us back around to monthly checks. Each detector should be checked monthly and batteries should be changed every six months.
Alana Pierce is a captain with the NLRFD and owner of The Retro Fit.
