Seven deaths in Maryland have occurred in fire related incidents during the first two months of 2014. Four of these incidents revealed smoke alarms were present, but were rendered inoperable as result of dead or missing batteries. The Office of the State Fire Marshal requests all Marylanders to remain vigilant with maintaining smoke alarms in their homes. The few minutes it takes to check these life saving devices can make all the difference if your home is being overwhelmed by the effects of fire.

A new state law aimed at reducing home fire deaths went into effect on July 1, 2013. It requires replacement of any battery-only operated smoke alarm that is more than 10 years old with a unit powered by a 10-year sealed-in battery – ultimately affecting more than 800,000 Maryland homes with battery - only operated smoke alarms. These sealed-in, long-life battery alarms provide continuous protection for a decade, and national fire experts such as the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) recommend their use.

Why is a sealed-in battery important? Nationally, two-thirds of all home fire deaths occur in homes with either no smoke alarm or no working smoke alarm, mainly due to missing or disconnected batteries. Last year in Maryland, nearly half of the fire fatalities were in homes with inoperable alarms or no alarms at all. By sealing the battery inside the alarm, the unit becomes tamper resistant and removes the burden from consumers to remember to change batteries, which will save lives.

The date of manufacture, while sometimes hard to locate, should be printed on the back of the smoke alarm. If no manufacture date can be located, it is clearly time to replace the smoke alarm. The new law heavily emphasizes the use of sealed smoke alarms with long life batteries and silence/hush buttons. However, it is critical to understand these devices are appropriate only where battery operated smoke alarms presently exist or in locations where no smoke alarms are present. (It is never acceptable to remove required wired-in smoke alarms and replace them with any type of battery only operated device). Electric 110v smoke alarms with a battery back-up shall be installed where these devices previously existed.

For more information on fire safety call 1-800-525-3124, log onto our website at: www.mdsp.org/firemarshal