The National Fire Protection Association recently released its “Smoke Alarms in U.S. Home Fires” report, which found that two-thirds of home fire deaths between 2005 and 2009 occurred in properties without working smoke alarms. The report also found that 36% of buildings constructed in the last five years failed to meet NFPA 72 standards.

Report data are based on recent telephone surveys, including 2008 and 2010 surveys conducted for NFPA by Harris and a 2004–2005 Consumer Product Safety Commission survey, in addition to information from the National Fire Incident Reporting System. Data were used to develop a national estimate on how many reported fires had smoke alarms and the life-safety result of working vs. non-working or absent alarms, said Marty Ahrens, NFPA manager of fire analysis services.

The report found that about 96% of surveyed U.S. households reported having at least one smoke alarm, but that nearly two-thirds of fire deaths resulted in homes that didn’t have smoke alarms at all or had a smoke alarm that wasn’t operating because it was disabled or had dead batteries. In fact, in 24% of the home fire deaths, smoke alarms were present but did not sound due to dead or disconnected batteries, Ahrens said. Also, 38% of fire deaths occurred where no smoke alarms were present at all.

Often, smoke alarms are disabled because of nuisance alarms, Ahrens said. The NFPA found that roughly half of the households had a smoke alarm installed in their kitchen, which sounds off from non-fire related incidents. Half of the households surveyed in a 2010 Harris Poll done for NFPA reported they had smoke alarms in their kitchen. Two out of every five (or 43%) households reported their smoke alarms had gone off at least once in the past year with almost three-quarters (73%) saying the activation was due to cooking, she said.

“If a smoke alarm in the kitchen is sounding too often, the problem could be solved by moving the smoke alarm. But deactivating it is obviously not good,” Ahrens said. “We believe that people disable smoke alarms because of the nuisance alarm problem.”

In addition, the researchers found that citizens lack an emergency plan, which includes an escape route. Without one, the alarm warning falls short as victims often don’t know what to do next. As well, those with mobility issues may not be able to react quickly enough to the alarm sound in order to escape safely.

“We have seen when people have mobility problems … that they don’t benefit if they are home alone from having a smoke alarm,” she said.

Ahrens said fire chiefs should develop or continue to fund smoke alarm installation programs. She said both the 2007 and 2010 editions of NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, require smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level. They should also be interconnected so that when one sounds, they all sound. In addition, new homes should have hardwired smoke alarms.

Yet many homes do not have this level of protection, Ahrens said. For example, NFPA 72 requires smoke alarms in new construction buildings to be hardwired with battery backup. However, the report found more than 36% of homes less than five years old had smoke alarms powered by battery only. The death rate per 100 reported fires is twice as high in fires with smoke alarms powered by batteries as it is in fires with hardwired smoke alarms, she said.

To be effective, the codes must be adopted and enforced, Ahrens emphasized. Smoke alarms provide a critical early warning so it is important to continue to promote smoke alarms, to help citizens install them and to teach them how to test them. She also said fire leadership must continue to promote interconnected alarms that will sound throughout the house.

“The other best protection would come from smoke alarms in combination with sprinkler systems,” she said.

Sidebar: Smoke Alarm Pub-Ed Checklist

• Choose a smoke alarm that bears the label of a recognized testing laboratory.
• Install a smoke alarm in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of your home, including the basement.
• For the best protection, interconnect all smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.
• Replace all smoke alarms, including alarms that use 10-year batteries and hard-wired alarms, when they are 10 years old or sooner if they do not respond properly when tested.