Smoke alarms with lithium batteries have been marketed as long life or "10-Year Alarms." Previous work has drawn into question the actual term of functionality for lithium battery alarms. This article reports on observed smoke alarm presence and functionality in a sample of 158 homes that had participated in a lire department smoke alarm installation program 5 to 7 years prior to the observations. A total of 391 alarms were originally installed in the 158 homes that completed the revisit. At the time of the revisit, 217 of those alarms were working (54), 28 were nonworking (7), and 146 were missing (39). Of the 158 homes that completed the revisit, n = 62 (39) had all their originally installed project alarms up and working at the revisit. Respondents who reported owning their homes or who reported living in their home for 6 or more years were significantly more likely to maintain all of their project alarms than renters or those living in their homes for 5 or fewer years. Smoke alarm installation programs should consider revisiting homes within 5 to 7 years postinstallation to inspect and replace any missing or nonfunctioning alarms. We recommend programs conducting community risk reduction programs track and plan installations and revisits to improve smoke alarm coverage.
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