Part of ChathamCountyGA.gov
Fall back, spring into fire safety
As we change the clocks, now is a great reminder to check your smoke alarm and CO detector batteries. Also, it is recommended to replace smoke alarms every 10 years to make sure they work properly. Smoke alarms were present in three-quarters (74 percent) of the reported home fires from 2018 to 2022. Nearly three out of five (59 percent) home fire deaths were caused by fires in properties with no smoke alarms (43 percent) or smoke alarms that failed to operate (16 percent). The death rate per 1,000 home structure fires is approximately 60 percent lower in homes with working smoke alarms than in homes with no alarms or none that operated. Of the fire fatalities that occurred in homes with working smoke alarms, 28 percent occurred when the alarm failed to alert occupants and 9 percent occurred when the occupants were alerted but failed to respond. Civilians who were fatally injured in homes with working smoke alarms were more likely to have been in the area of origin and involved in the ignition (37 percent). Most victims were escaping (32 percent), sleeping (29 percent), or unable to act (15 percent) at the time of injury. Hardwired smoke alarms (with or without battery backup) were found in 50 percent of the reported home fires in properties with smoke alarms; smoke alarms powered by battery were only found in 44 percent of such fires. Nearly two-thirds (66 percent) of the fatal injuries from fires in homes with smoke alarms occurred in properties with battery-only powered alarms. When present, hardwired smoke alarms operated in 94 percent of the fires considered large enough to trigger a smoke alarm. Battery-only alarms operated 85 percent of the time. Missing or non-functional power sources, including missing or disconnected batteries, dead batteries, and disconnected hardwired alarms, were the most common factors when smoke alarms failed to operate.