| American homes suffer an unwanted fire every 10 seconds, and every 60 seconds they suffer a fire serious enough to call the fire department. Most importantly, every two and a half-hours someone is killed in a home fire-that's over 3,500 people killed in 2000 alone. Another 20,000 people are injured in home fires in a typical year.
Protecting your family from fire requires advance planning for what to do if fire strikes. This includes the use of protective devices, usually smoke alarms, to provide early warning of fire, especially at night when they are most vulnerable. However, depending on the size and layout of your home and the characteristics of your family, you may need to do more to assure their safety. This brochure was written to provide the information you need to decide what you must do to protect your family from fire.
On this site you'll learn why you should:
- Respect fire and teach your children to respect it too.
- Install smoke alarms, either self-contained or as part of a system, outside bedrooms and on EVERY LEVEL OF THE HOME.
- Test and maintain your alarms as if your life depends on it. IT DOES!
- Make sure everyone can clearly hear the sound of your smoke alarms from their bedrooms.
- Make an escape plan with two ways out of every room and practice it with your family.
- Take special care when there are family members who cannot escape unassisted, and consider a residential sprinkler system.
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