About 70% of all home-fire fatalities occur in houses with no working smoke alarms, according to a November 2004 National Fire Protection Association report.

The NFPA report, “U.S. Experience with Smoke Alarms and Other Fire Alarms,” said 96% of American households have smoke alarms installed, but nearly one quarter of them don't work. “The households with smoke alarms that don't work now outnumber the households with no alarms by a substantial margin,” concludes the report's executive summary.

From 1999 to 2001, an average of 70% of home-fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with either no smoke alarms or in which none of the smoke alarms sounded. “If every home had working smoke alarms, U.S. home fire deaths would decrease by an estimated 36%, resulting in an estimated 1,120 lives saved per year,” the study concludes.

In about half the fires where smoke alarms didn't work, batteries were missing or disconnected, the report said, indicating the smoke alarms were intentionally disabled. Batteries were dead in about 15% of these cases.

NFPA suggests using these statistics to prioritize public education and fire prevention resources. “There's no telling how many lives might be saved by home fire sprinkler systems, but we have a very good idea of how many could be saved by working smoke detectors.”

Moreover, NFPA surveys have found public resistance to installing home sprinkler systems because — even if cost is not a deterrent — people often fear they will malfunction, according to NFPA public relations director Margie Coloian. “NFPA endorses home sprinkler systems, but smoke alarms are more readily available to everyone,” Coloian said. “If we just start there — with working smoke alarms — and then move on to getting sprinklers installed — just imagine!”