Smoke detectors are a key part of a home fire safety plan. When there is a fire, smoke spreads fast. Working smoke detectors give you early warning so you can get outside quickly. In a recent National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) report, risk of fatality in a home with working detectors is 55 percent lower than homes without working smoke detectors. Almost three out of five home fire deaths were caused by fires in properties with no smoke detectors or detectors that failed to operate. A common problem we are experiencing are old, out dated detectors.

In August and September, PMFD responded to 70 false alarms combined. Of those false alarms, 23 were caused by malfunctioning detectors. The chief problem with the malfunction was found to be detectors older than 10 years from manufacture date. Check the date of your detectors and replace if older than 10 years from the manufacture date.