Three out of five home fire deaths resulted from fires in properties without working smoke alarms.

The risk of dying in reported home structure fires is cut in half in homes with working smoke alarms. The death rate in reported home fires was more than twice as high in homes that did not have any working smoke alarms, either because no smoke alarm was present or an alarm was present but did not operate, as it was in homes with working smoke alarms.

Smoke alarm failures usually result from missing, disconnected, or dead batteries. When smoke alarms should have operated but did not do so, it was usually because batteries are missing, disconnected or dead. People are most likely to remove or disconnect batteries because of nuisance activations. Sometimes the chirping to warn of a low battery is interpreted as a nuisance alarm.

The Charles County Volunteer Fire and EMS Associations ask all our residents to test and/or change their smoke detector batteries while they move their "clocks ahead" on March 8th. If any citizens needs a smoke detector in their home please contact their community fire station or call our Administrative Services Office at 301-934-3581 for more information.