Smoke Detectors, Are Yours Too Old???

When was the last time you checked any of your smoke alarms? When was the last time you changed the battery? When was the last time you cleaned them? What year were they installed? 

At the time, I personally could not answer any of those questions, unless the answer was never or I don't know! 

So do smoke detectors have a working shelf life? YES they do! And here is how I found out.

One night I was working when I got a panicked call from my wife: "Honey, I just got home and all the smoke alarms are going off! I can't reset them or turn them off, Cookie (our Pomeranian) is freaking out and shaking."

What is going on I thought? "Is there a fire or smoke anywhere?" I asked. 

"No" She replied, "but I can't stay in here any longer, its too loud and I have to take Cookie outside."

With me being an hour away at the time there wasn't much I could do. There were so many thoughts going through my head, Is it a fire?, Is it Carbon Monoxide?, Do we even have a carbon monoxide detector?, How long have they been going off?, How can I get this fixed??? Arrrgghh, I thought.

Then it hit me, the Fire Department! Yeah, call them! So the fire department to the rescue! They showed up within 5 minutes to calm my wife and dog as well as fix the problem. When they checked the house there was no fire, thank God! Then they got all the smoke detectors turned off. 

When everything calmed down, the firemen and women explained to my wife the reason the smoke detectors were going off. They were TOO OLD, EXPIRED!!! They then showed her on the back of the smoke detectors the date of manufacture, 10 years ago!!! Our home is 10 years old and I had never once thought about the smoke detectors!!! 

My ignorance created panic at my house as well as a freaked out dog. I felt terrible as we do not know how long the detectors were going off. 

So the fire department recommended replacing the expired smoke detectors and checking them once a month as well as cleaning them and changing the batteries annually. 

To clean, the firefighters recommended using a can of compressed air to clean the dust out from inside.

Smoke detectors usually have a useful working life up to 10 years, depending on the model. There should be a date of manufacture on the back of each smoke detector.

If you have not checked or cleaned your smoke detectors in a while now is a good time to do so, especially if you have children or pets at home.

6 new smoke detectors and 1 new carbon monoxide detector later we have peace of mind. We are both very grateful for our local fire department coming to the rescue and educating both of us. 

 THANK YOU MARICOPA FIRE DEPARTMENT!!!