WHAT the house so you'll know when SMOKE MAINTENANCE DO everyone is out. Have everyone DETECTORS SMOKE DETECTORS rehearse the plan NEED? regularly FIRESAFETY In case of a real It s extremely important to test and clean all fire, get out of the detectors regularly house immediate WHILE YOU Replace the batteries according to the ly. Once at the manufacturers recommendations—or at meeting place, have one person go toa least once a year. Warn everyone in your neighbor's phone to call the fire department. SLEEP household to leave working batteries in In addition to telling them your name and smoke detectors—resist the temptation to address, tell them if anyone is still in the borrow them for otherpurposes. house. Never paint a smoke detector. Because cobwebs and dust can impair a detectors sensitivity, vacuum your detectors at least FIRE SAFETY IN once a vear. YOUR HOME STARTS Follow the manufacturer's instructions for testing your smoke detectors. It only takes a TODAY! moment to test a smoke detector that could In combination with a family escape plan, save your life; test yours once a week to smoke detectors properly installed and make sure you're protected, maintained can save your family's lives in caseof fire. WHAT HAPPENS Smoke detectors—big protection for a small price! WHEN THE FIRE ALARM SOUNDS?

Being awakened by a smoke detector can be very scary and disorienting. You'll do the right thing if you've planned for a fire emer gency before it happens. First of all, make sure everyone knows what your smoke detector sounds like. Escape planning is a must. Plan at least two ways out from each room—especially the bedrooms. Set a place to meet outside

Peopie protecting people since 1896. © 1988 National Fire Protection Association OP Batterymarck Park, Quincy, MA 02269 NFPA Primed in U.S.A. BR-f But to get the protection you paid for, it's straining device so that the plug cannot acci DO SMOKE vital that you follow the manufacturer's rec dentally be pulled from the wall. Detectors DETECTORS REALLY ommendations for installation, testing and can also be hard-wired into the electrical maintenance. system. But never hard-wire a detector to a SAVE LIVES? circuit that can be turned off at a wall switch. Most fatal home fires occur at night, while HOW MANY DO people are asleep. Poisonous gases and I NEED? Because smoke rises, each detector should smoke from a fire in your home can numb be mounted high on a wall or on the ceiling the senses in a very short time. According to the to detect the first traces of smoke. For a wall-mounted unit, the top ofthe detector Every home needs a device that can wake widely accepted should be 4 to 12 inches from the ceiling. A people up in time to escape from a fire. Standard on Household Fire ceiling-mounted detector should be placed Almost every day, a smoke detector saves Warning Equip at least 4 inches from any wall. In a room somebody's life. That's why some 33 states ment (NFPA 74), with a high pitched ceiling, mount the de have laws requiring smoke detectors in all minimum protec tector on or nearthe ceiling's highest point. new homes, tion requires Most home fires start in living areas—the Of all the low-cost fire alarm devices you smoke detectors den, family room can buy, fire officials consider smoke detec outside each bed or living room. tors the most effective. room and on each additional story of the On a floor with house—including the basement. no bedrooms^ in stall the required HOW DO I CHOOSE For extra protection, NFPA recommends that you also install detectors inside each detector in or A SMOKE bedroom, the dining room, furnace room, near the living utility room and hallways. If your family area. If a stairway DETECTOR? sleeps with bedroom doors closed, its espe leads to an upper cially important to install detectors inside story, install the Dozens of reputa the bedrooms. Detectors are also recom detector in the path where smoke would ble brands of mended for kitchens, attics (finished or un travel up the stairs. smoke detectors finished) and garages. Be sure you can hear Don't install a detector near a window; are readily avail detectors from each bedroom, door or air register where drafts could re able. No matter duce its sensitivity. where you buy your detectors or Locate a basement smoke detector close whar type they WHERE AND HOW to the stairway leading to the floor above. But don't install the detector at the top of are, be sure to SHOULD I INSTALL buy only "label the basement stairs; dead air space near the door may prevent smoke from reaching the ed" units—those bearing the mark of an or MY SMOKE detector. ganization that tests and evaluates products. DETECTORS? Any labeled smoke detector offers protec tion—whether it's powered by batteries or To install most smoke detectors, all you need househould current, whether it's a photo is ascrewdriver and a drill. electric or ionization device. Most smoke detectors operate either on batteries or household current. A detector that plugs into a wall outlet must have are