You are vulnerable to fire - unless you employ the use of
a rapid response fire system. The purpose of a fire alarm
system is to alert you to the presence of a fire. Without
monitoring such devices you are not safeguarded and while
smoke detectors are mandatory in virtually all locales, monitoring
is not.
The U.S. has one of the highest fire death rates in the industialized
world. For 1997, the U.S. fire death rate was 15.2 deaths
per million population. Between 1993 and 1997, an average
of 4,500 Americans lost their lives and another 26,500 were
injured annually due to fire. About 100 firefighters are killed
each year in duty-related incidents. Each year, fire kills
more Americans than all natural disasters combined.
Fire is the third leading cause of accidental death in the
home; at least 80 percent of fire deaths occur in residences.
About 2 million fires are reported each year. Many others
go unreported, causing additional injuries and property loss
estimated at $8.5 billion annually.
Smoke Detectors
Smoke detectors are a key component in the detection of fires.
Some use the ionization methor to sense the presence of smoke,
others use photoelectric sensing. Smoke detectors are either
physically wired to the alarm control box or can relay via
radio to detection of a high concentration of smoke particles.
Heat detectors, manual pull stations, and sensors which detect
the flow of water through a sprinkler system are some of the
other devices used in a fire system.
What Saves Lives
A working smoke alarm dramatically increases a person's chance
of surviving a fire. Approximately 90 percent of U.S. homes
have at least one smoke detector. However, these alarms are
not alway maintained and as a result might not work in an
emergency. It is estimated that over 40 percent of residential
fires and three fifths of residential fatalities occur in
homes with no smoke alarms.
Residential sprinklers have become more cost effective for
homes, however, currently, few homes are protected by them.
