A smoke detector can make the difference between life and death.
The fire department says homeowners should check their detectors
every month to make sure they are working and the batteries are
fresh. That may seem like common sense, but honestly, who does
it? When was the last time you checked your smoke detector to
make sure it was working properly? A fire that destroyed much of
a house on Woods End Lane in March should be a wake-up call:
Don’t take fire prevention measures for granted. Fortunately,
that house was unoccupied at the time of the fire and no one was
hurt. But five people in Stamford weren’t so lucky last
Christmas when they died in a fire in a home where smoke
detectors hadn’t been installed. Older homes, especially, may
not be equipped with smoke detectors, or with enough of them.
Sometimes people remove the batteries to prevent nuisance
alarms. Others simply never get around to checking the
batteries. Smoke detectors are a minor expense and a minor
inconvenience when weighed against the clea