This past Saturday morning, at 2 AM, I was awakened to a man’s voice coming from my hallway, saying with urgency, “Por favor cambie las pilas en el detector de humo! Por favor cambie las pilas en el detector de humo!” Although startled, I was instantly put at ease once I saw my dogs weren’t reacting. Then I figured it out; it was the smoke alarm telling me to change the batteries, in Spanish!
From FEMA’s web site: A properly installed and maintained smoke alarm is the only thing in your home that can alert you and your family to a fire 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whether you’re awake or asleep, a working smoke alarm is constantly on alert, scanning the air for fire and smoke.
Here are a few tips regarding smoke alarms:
Note the properly installed and maintained comment in the previous paragraph. Just do it—your and your family’s lives depend on it.
When you buy a new smoke detector, remove the page with the installation directions, fold it, and tuck it behind the smoke detector. It will save you some head scratching sometime in the future.
Get to know your smoke alarm. Is it hard wired, or just battery operated?
If it’s old, get a new one.
Make sure the alarm has a carbon monoxide detector as well.
If it’s hardwired, it’s important that the backup battery is fresh.
Read this short article from FEMA about smoke alarms to learn more. Note how often you should check the batteries, and put it on your calendar so you don’t forget.
The odds a residential structure will catch fire in a year are 1 in 309.7. There are some simple things you can do to improve the odds for your home, like properly cleaning dryer vents, HVAC filters, and not allowing smoking or candles in your home. This is a great 3-minute video that shares simple ideas to help you make your home safer from fire: What Are the Odds?
Two of the maintenance services we offer are cleaning dryer vents and replacing smoke detectors. Let us know if we can help!
Be safe,
Mike
