Fire Safety Planning

This week we will discuss Fire Safety Planning, Smoke Alarms, and what you can do to protect your family from fire danger.

Installing Smoke Alarms:

According to USFA having working smoke alarms installed on every level of your home dramatically increases the chance of you and your family’s fire survival. Smoke alarm batteries need to be tested each month and replaced once a year. Also, consider replacing the entire alarm every ten years, or as the manufacturer’s guidelines recommend. Since most fatal home fires occur at night when people are asleep, it stands to reason smoke alarms must be placed where they can do the most good.

What Types Of Smoke Alarms Are Available?

There are two common smoke alarm types. Let’s look and see how they work, and the pros and cons of each type:

Ionization:
This type of sensor is generally more effective in detecting fast burning fires with the potential to spread quickly.

Now Do They Work:
Ionization detectors use a small amount of radioactive material to make the air within a sensing chamber conduct electricity. Smoke particles smaller than the eye can see, will enter the detector chamber and trigger the alarm. The greatest numbers of these small particles are produced by a flaming fire. This results in the ionization detector responding to open flaming fires better than slow smoldering fires.

Photoelectric:
This type of sensor is generally more effective in detecting slows moldering fires.

Now Do They Work:
Photoelectric detectors use a small light source which shines its light into a dark chamber not normally exposed to light. This chamber contains a photocell to detect light. When smoke particles enter the sensing chamber, light is reflected off of them and into the sensing chamber. This change causes the alarm to trigger. This method needs larger smoke particles than ionization detectors which is usually formed from smoldering fires. Fires such as slow burning or smoldering foam filled upholstery, overhead wiring etc. are typical of these type of fires.

Which Kind Should I Use?
As you can see both of these systems offer their own range of fire protection, one for fast burning fires and other for slow smoldering fires. Both of which will kill you. Based on this overlap many smoke alarm companies are now offering smoke alarms systems that test for both Photoelectric and Ionization. This is one to look for, and it is now being sold everywhere. Find out what type of system you have and make the necessary changes now. They only cost about $10 to $15, your life or the life of your child is worth much more.

Remember the best time to learn your lesson about personal security, self defense, and preparedness is before something happens.