Temperatures reach 500 degrees within 3 – 4 minutes & 1000 degrees within 8
In the event of a fire in your home, do you have a fire safety plan in place? Jeff Rossen did a very important investigation for the Today Show that will help you come up with a good plan for your family. I was surprised by his findings.
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Do you have the right type of smoke alarm? Fire alarms that are typically used in most homes do not always work properly, if at all.
The most popular type of smoke alarm uses ionization technology, 90% of the homes in America have them.
The ionization technology works well in a fire with fast flames but they don’t always sound fast enough in a fire that starts with smoldery smoke.
These types of fires can fill your home with toxic gases while you sleep and this alarm goes off when it’s already too late.
60 – 80% of victims die from smoke and chemical inhalation, not burns
Texas A & M scientist Don Russell has performed hundreds of tests that proves this. He has found that smoke detectors using photo electric technology work far faster in a smokey fire. Tests run by the government also show that they go off much sooner in a smokey fire.
The ionization detector went off 20 minutes later and in many fires, people would not be able to get out safely at that point. In some real life cases, the ionization detector never even went off and people parished.
Companies primarily sell the ionization detectors because they cost less money to make. Russell says they will only respond when the government pressures them.
In the mean time, if you want to keep your family as safe as possible, experts recommend installing a photo electric detector in addition to the one that uses ionization technology or install a duel detector that uses both technologies.
With the holidays upon us this is a good idea. Lots of fires are started because of holiday lights, candles and such. Remember that tragedy in New York a few Christmases ago? A mom lost all 3 of her children and her parents in a house fire. Devastating.
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