Test your smoke alarms. Don’t let your security arrangements kill you!

Those of you who have read these website pages will have noticed constant references to building regulations in respect to fires in the home. In the Home Security Survey I ask if you have a ‘Fire Plan’ – get out, stay out and dial 999. Unfortunately, 31% of survey respondents have stated that they do not have such a plan and so I refer these people to the excellent London Fire Brigade website pages for fire safety advice.

I also talk about smoke detectors throughout the site, simply because an activation will give you the essential time you’ll need to put your fire escape plan into action, such as waking the household and getting out! Now that’s all fine and dandy except that only half of all householders who own a smoke alarm say that they test it's working on a regular basis. In fact, you're more than four times as likely to die in a fire if your smoke alarm is not working.

The very latest advert from the Fire Kills campaign drives home the message that we should maintain and test our smoke alarms and you can watch the advert here.

The advert cuts between home video of a young family spending time together and a pathologist carrying out a post mortem on the youngest girl, who has died in a house fire. The contrast brings home the harsh reality of the consequences of a fire, and urges people to test their smoke alarms.