[Carl]

Each year, approximately 3,000 people in the U.S. die from fires in the home. Many of these fires occur at night while people who are sleeping unknowingly inhale toxic gases and smoke. More than half of the fires occur in houses without a smoke alarm. Fires that result in death in houses with smoke detectors are almost always due to not enough detectors or dead smoke alarm batteries. The risk of death from residential fires is cut significantly when you know how to change the batteries in your smoke detector.

 

[mwhartman]

This is a sad fact. Smoke detectors are not expensive and easy to install. One should have an optical as well as ionization detector. If you have any type of gas appliances, furnaces, or heaters then a carbon dioxide detector should be installed.

Changing the batteries twice a year when we change time is a rule to thumb to follow.