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Further evidence of the vital importance of
smoke alarms comes from American
studies. In American States where
residential fire protection is mandatory,
some 92% of homes have the required fire
alarm systems. 50% of ALL the fire deaths
which occur happen within the 8% where
no alarms are fitted.
BS 5839: Pt.6: 2004 itself says:
“It has been estimated that, in dwellings
without smoke detectors, a substantial
proportion of the fatalities from fire could be
avoided if smoke detectors were installed”
SMOKE ALARM
PERFORMANCE
In 34,450 fires in 2003, no smoke alarm
was present in the fire area. 261 people
died in these fires, and a further 6,100
were injured.
In the cases where an alarm was present,
the alarm operated correctly in 18,821
cases (29% of dwelling fires), operated but
failed to raise the alarm in 3,100 cases
(5%) and failed to operate altogether in
7,445 cases (12%).
SMOKE ALARM RELIABILITY
It is worth quoting the Fire Statistics in detail
here. The report notes that, in those
dwellings subject to a fire in 2003, alarms
failed to operate in 12% of cases:
“However, this overall figure masks a wide
difference in performance between battery
powered alarms and mains powered alarms
– 40% of all battery powered smoke alarms
failed in 2003 compared to just 13% of mains
powered alarms.”
The Report goes on to clarify:
“The main reason for smoke alarm failures
each year is missing or flat batteries. In 2003
they accounted for 63% of failures in battery
powered alarms. The main reason for failure
of mains powered alarms was that the fire
products did not reach the detectors (43% of
cases)”.
The message is still all too clear: it’s vital to
select, properly install and adequately
maintain the best, most reliable smoke
alarms possible - and to have both
adequate back-up and measures for
preventing tampering with alarms.
BATTERY POWERED ALARMS
The high failure rate of alarms with
replaceable batteries is truly frightening.
Landlords relying on battery powered alarms
to protect tenants cannot be there all the
time to check that batteries are present and
working – but responsibility still lies with them.
Essentially, the time when a smoke alarm
with a replaceable battery was considered
adequate has long passed. BS 5839: Pt.6
itself recognises that, while they save lives,
they are all too vulnerable to tampering to
offer landlords much of a defence under
‘duty of care’. It is no surprise to learn that,
when one Council made an inspection of its
properties fitted with battery units, it found
that in excess of 50% of them were
‘defective’ in some way, due mainly to
neglect or from removal of the batteries.
COVERAGE
Inadequately or improperly installed fire
alarms can have a significant bearing on
their performance, as borne out by the
Fire Statistics.
A badly installed alarm may have its
reaction time cut in half - offering
occupants as little as 90 seconds or two
minutes to get out. By this time, routes of
escape may have become impassable,
forcing people to jump from high windows.
Or flames may have reached them.
An incorrectly installed fire alarm may
again leave landlords in both the private
and public sector vulnerable to
compensation claims from injured
tenants or from families of victims.
After one such fire tragedy in which a
tenant died, one local authority found that
the compensation it had to pay out, plus
the cost of litigation, far exceeded the cost
of installing quality fire alarms in every
single council property in their area. To a
private landlord without the resources of a
local authority, such a compensation pay
out could have been completely ruinous.
The message of BS 5839: Pt.6 is therefore
to not only install an adequate number of
smoke alarms, but to ensure that they are
installed and maintained correctly in
every respect.
FIRE SAFETY - THE STATISTICS
According to the latest UK figures the
majority - over three quarters - of all fire
casualties occur in the home.
Until the introduction of BS 5839: Pt.6,
business and commercial premises were
the subject of far more stringent fire
safety regulations than residential
dwellings. BS 5839: Pt.6 was introduced
to start redressing the balance.
Every year around 450 people die in fires
in this country, and close to 13,000 are
injured. The death toll is reducing and
this is acknowledged to be directly
related to increasing and more
professional use of smoke alarms. At the
time of the introduction of BS 5839 in
1995, we were talking around 600 deaths
and 15,000 annual injuries.
A brief look at ‘Fire Statistics United
Kingdom, 2003’, published by the Office
of the Deputy Prime Minister in March
2005, provides an invaluable insight into
incidents of dwelling fires and the
effectiveness of smoke alarms.
• In 2003, dwelling fires fell to 63,800. The
number of accidental dwelling fires also
fell to 50,000 – the lowest figures for more
than a decade
• However, around 80% of all fire-related
casualties occur in dwellings
• In 2003, 447 people lost their lives in
fires in the home. (That compares with
430 in 2002 and 483 in 2001)
• 12,600 people were injured, a
reduction of 7% compared with 2002
MORTALITY STATISTICS
• In 2003, 68 people lost their lives in fires in
homes where an alarm was present,
operated and raised the alarm
• In comparison, in the same period, 379
people died in homes where either an
alarm was not installed or an alarm was
present but failed to raise the alarm
The report suggests that 76% of households
now have alarms, so the huge difference in
death rates is strongly indicative not only of
the need for smoke alarms, but also smoke
alarms which work when they are needed.