Smoke detectors alone aren't the answer for cigarette related fires! While traditional stationary smoke detectors are sometimes able, if conditions are favorable, to effectively alert secondary victims who are outside the room of origin, they seldom operate either early enough or with enough audibility to save the smoker who is, by definition, intimate with ignition. More than half (53%) of the people killed by home fires were in the room or area of origin when the fire broke out (NFPA 2007-Home Structure Fire Report) and approximately half of home fire deaths occur in homes without smoke alarms (M. Arens -The U.S. Fire Problem overview report: -NFPA)
Numerous studies conducted by the NFPA, FEMA, and the US Fire Administration show that the most common occurrences associated with smoke detectors being disabled/ ineffective are: nuisance alarms, dead/leaky/defective or missing batteries, and location of the smoke detector.
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