Writing the Next Chapter in a True Success Story

摘要

For several years, an interesting set of questions has revolved around residential smoke alarms, their technology, and which type is best for protecting the general population from fires. As background, let me say that overall, smoke alarms have been one of the biggest success stories for the fire service that came out of the "America Burning" study of the 1970s. Prior to that landmark publication, in 1975 alone there were nearly 13,000 fire deaths recorded in the United States. Thirty-five years later in 2010, that number was less than 3,000, and at least one fire-prevention expert recently told me that the number in 2011 may be closer to 2,000. In comparison, since 1975 the population of our country has grown from 205 million to more than 311 million. The single most important factor in the reduction of fire fatalities has been smoke alarms and the constant reminder by the fire service that they - along with planned and practiced home exit drills - save lives.