But as they fell asleep, the candle apparently fell from its glass holder and ignited a nearby bookshelf. The smoke detector was disabled because it needed the house's electrical system to operate. That tragedy was on the minds of many NIH'ers who visited the FPS's booth at the NIH Health Fair last month. Most questions centered on the use and maintenance of smoke detectors. That's why smoke detectors are a first line of defense when escaping from a fire.
Time becomes a precious resource as soon as the first flames get started.
If you have smoke detectors that are working properly, they normally go off prior to that 2-minute interval. It's an early warning device. Every 74 seconds a home burns in the United States and thousands of people die each year in homes in which no smoke detectors are present. Although in the nation 93 percent of all homes have at least one smoke detector, almost 50 percent of all home fires and 60 percent of home fire deaths occur in the 7 percent with no smoke detectors, according to statistics provided by NIH's Division of Public Safety, Office of Research Services. Moreover, the NFPA says that the majority of fatal home fires happen at night when people are asleep.