Kidde PI2000CA - Manual (Page 20)

19
Fire Safety
Limitations of Smoke Alarms
WARNING: Please read carefully and thoroughly.
• NFPA 72 states: Fire-warning equipment for residential
occupancies are capable of protecting about half of the occupants
in potentially fatal fires. Victims are often intimate with the fire,
too old or too young, or physically or mentally impaired such
that they cannot escape even when warned early enough that
escape should be possible. For these people, other strategies such
as protection-in-place or assisted escape or rescue would be
necessary.
• Smoke alarms are devices that can provide early warning of
possible fires at a reasonable cost; however, alarms have sensing
limitations. Ionization sensing alarms may detect invisible fire
particles (associated with fast flaming fires) sooner than
photoelectric alarms. Photoelectric sensing alarms may detect
visible fire particles (associated with slow, smouldering fires)
sooner than ionization alarms. Home fires develop in different
ways and are often unpredictable. For maximum protection,
Kidde recommends that both ionization and photoelectric alarms
be installed.
• A battery powered alarm must have a battery of the specified
type, in good condition and installed properly.
• A.C. powered alarms (without battery backup) will not operate if
the A.C. power has been cut off, such as by an electrical fire or
an open fuse.
• Smoke alarms must be tested regularly to make sure the batteries
and the alarm circuits are in good operating condition.
• Smoke alarms cannot provide an alarm if smoke does not reach
the alarm. Therefore, smoke alarms may not sense fires starting in
chimneys, walls, on roofs, on the other side of a closed door or
on a different floor.
• If the alarm is located outside the sleeping room or on a different
floor, it may not wake up a sound sleeper.
• The use of alcohol or drugs may also impair one’s ability to hear
the smoke alarm. For maximum protection, a smoke alarm
should be installed in each sleeping area on every level of a
home.
• Although smoke alarms can help save lives by providing an early
warning of a fire, they are not a substitute for an insurance
policy. Home owners and renters should have adequate
insurance to protect their lives and property.