Limitations Of Smoke Alarms - Kidde P3010CUCA User Manual

1. Limitations of Smoke Alarms

WARNING: PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AND THOROUGHLY
• NFPA 72 states: Life safety from fire in residential occupancies is based
primarily on early notification to occupants of the need to escape,
followed by the appropriate egress actions by those occupants.
• Fire warning systems for dwelling units are capable of protecting about
half of the occupants in potentially fatal fires. Victims are often intimate
with the fire, too old or 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 are necessary.
• Leading authorities recommend that both ionization and photoelectric
smoke alarms be installed to help ensure maximum detection of
the various types of fires that can occur within the home. 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.
• A battery powered alarm must have a battery of the specified type,
in good condition and installed properly.
• Smoke alarms must be tested regularly to make sure the battery 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 bedroom 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.
• A lthough 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, landlords and tenants should have adequate insurance
to protect their lives and property.
This alarm is not intended to alert hearing impaired individuals.