Check your smoke detectors

So as I am getting ready for bed and watching the news, they had another 2 house fires to report. 2 a day seems to be the norm in my neck of the woods. AND EVERY SINGLE TIME , the mom is shown saying that if they had working smoking detectors in their house, they would not have lost family memebers. Then after they show the storys, they show the fire dept. going out to all the neighborhoods checking the smoke detectors in homes and apartments. So if they air this many fires every night – and the fire dept. is out daliy – what are we suppose to be learning from all this? How many more families do I have to see mourning over their loved ones? Are some people just that clueless? The news announces every time that you should call the fire dept. and they will supply you with a working smoke detector or batteries if you need them. There should be no excuse that you can’t check yours to see if it works – remember to plug the battery back in after you burnt the toast – if it’s beeping every 7 minutes, it’s time to change the battery , the time/effort you took to unplug it so it would stop beeping is the same time/effort used to just put in a new battery. Sorry, I just have a hard time with people who have excusses for something they could have changed/done but now it’s too late.

Great post Muskygirl!

One problem I’ve had was that when my wife cooked, the kitchen detector would go off and the battery was pulled. Then it was closed without the battery. I had a sit down talk with them, move the detector to a more convienent but effective area. Now when they remove the battery the don’t take it all the way out..they just slide it back a 1/4 in and that quiets the noise. The cover is left hanging open towards the floor for anyone walking by to see and with a push of the finger, engages the battery and closes the lid. It’s been working will for over three years now.

Also I have one “wire” detector by each of the bedrooms. This area isn’t as apted to have false alarms and the batteries will never go dead. 11 detectors in our little 900 square foot house…

It’s like a PDF, if I knew we were going to have a fire tonight…I wouldn’t go to sleep.

a good rule of thumb is to change the batteries twice a year, when you set your clocks for daylight savings and back to regular time. once in the spring and once in the fall. this also includes hardwired units with battery back-up. here in minneapolis we used to give out 9v batteries but due to budget cuts i haven’t seen them for a few years. the only thing better than a smoke detector is a sprinkler system…..tom f, captain, minneapolis fire department C-shift

Pddlpder,

Isn’t twice a year over kill? I know when you change your clocks in the fall they must be changed…

Not arguing…just asking.

If you can’t reach them to change the batteries for some reason you could call your fire dept and they should have no trouble sending someone out to help you.

briank,

do i think it is over kill? noway!! better to error on the safe side. the city of minneapolis used to hand out batteries twice a year, or maybe it is the battery company’s that advocate the twice a year change. minneapolis is a older city, most homes were built before smokedetecters were introduced. alot of the units were battery operated. we are seeing more hardwire units with battery backup now due to remodleing and revised building codes. i change mine twice a year and mine are hardwired with battery backup. i put the old batteries in my voltage tester, backup battery in my alarm clock, so i just don’t through them away.