Smoke alarms will save lives Published Oct. 13, 2011 By Robert Lemanski JB MDL Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- Millions of people buy lottery tickets each week, hoping their one in 14 million odds will pay off. What if the odds were one in 10? Would more people buy tickets? How many people tested their smoke alarms in the last month? I'm guessing not nearly the amount of people who purchased lottery tickets, even though the odds of having a house fire are one in 10. It's easy to think it will never happen when it comes to fire, despite the odds. A recent survey conducted by the National Fire Protection Association found that 48 percent of U.S. citizens feel they have almost no chance of having a fire in their home. Fires can happen anywhere, anytime. Fire and smoke spread so fast, a person can have just seconds to safely escape with his or her loved ones. Working smoke alarms provide an early warning of fire and can provide the extra seconds a person and their family needs to escape. A recent study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the U.S. found working smoke alarms increase a person's chances of surviving a home fire by 63 percent. People still don't think fire will happen to them. All too often, U.S. fire service teams respond to fires in homes with no working smoke alarms. That's why Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Fire Department personnel need to raise the alarm about smoke alarms once again this year. The theme of this year's Fire Prevention Week, from Oct. 9 through 15, is "Protect your Family from Fire." The following are the top ten actions to consider regarding smoke alarms to help keep people and their families safe from fire. 1. Most fire deaths happen at night when everyone is asleep. A person can have as little as one minute to escape a fire. A fire will continue to grow rapidly and spread throughout a home if there is no smoke alarm in the proximity of the fire to provide a warning. This would diminish the chances of everyone getting out safely. 2. The National Fire Code requires all homes have working smoke alarms on every level of the home and outside all sleeping areas. 3. The more smoke alarms in the house, the better the odds of survival. The fire service recommend people install one inside every bedroom. 4. Landlords are responsible for providing and maintaining smoke alarms in rental properties. 5. Homeowners or tenants should not tamper with or disable a smoke alarm, which includes removing the battery. 6. The most common reason for removing batteries is because the alarm operates when you don't want it to - such as when cooking dinner. This is called a "nuisance alarm." There are ways to address this which doesn't put anyone's life in danger, such as installing a smoke alarm with a hush feature that allows someone to temporarily silence it at the push of a button, or moving the alarm away. 7. Smoke-alarm batteries should be replaced every year, or when the smoke alarm starts to chirp. Chirping is a signal the battery is nearing the end of its life. 8. Smoke alarms should be tested every month, following the manufacturer's instructions. The alarms need to be tested when the person has been away from the home for more than a few days because the batteries could have expired in his or her absence. 9. All smoke alarms, whether battery operated or electrically wired, should be replaced with new ones if they are more than ten years old. 10. Everyone in the household needs to know what to do when the smoke alarms sound. Develop and practice a home fire escape plan. Contact Asst. Fire Chief Robert Lemanski at 754-2226 or Staff Sgt. Ron Simpkins at 754-4656 for additional information regarding Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst fire instructions.