Renewed Focus on Smoke Alarms

6/10/2020 (Permalink)

Renewed Focus on Smoke Alarms to Prevent Damage

Smoke Alarms Save Lives

There's no question smoke alarms continue to save lives even as they often go unnoticed in a business or home. Making sure to renew your batteries and/or properly install your smoke alarm reduces the likelihood of fire damage. In fact, the National Fire Protection Association encourages owners to install smoke alarms in individual bedrooms as well as hallways and main rooms throughout your business or home. Local businesses should also consult their Fire Marshall for fire codes in their area and specific placement and numbers of fire detectors. 

Along with a renewed focus on smoke alarms, having a fire escape plan is essential for protecting people, family and clients in any smoke emergency situation. 

Safety Tips for Smoke Alarms

• Make sure you have a dedicated smoke alarm for every floor of your home or business. This includes substructures and basements. 
• To avoid false alarms, make sure to install your smoke detectors away from your kitchen cooking area (start about 10 feet from stove). 
• Make sure to test your smoke alarms monthly by pressing the test button. This guarantees the batteries are powered and the unit is functioning properly 
• If you test the alarm and it is weak or not responsive, make sure to switch out your batteries, and generally speaking, replace batteries once-a-year for each individual smoke alarm in your home or business.
• Note: an indication that your smoke detector is running low on batteries is that annoying little "chirp" that echoes throughout the property. If you hear this, replace your batteries.
• Lastly, you may not know it, but replacing your smoke detectors every 10 years is good practice to avoid deterioration and/or malfunction.

With these tips, smoke damage restoration is often unnecessary because early detection by smoke alarms/detectors saves the day!