Lancashire's residents are being reminded about the importance of having potentially life-saving smoke alarms in their households and businesses.
A new national survey of 2,000 people by consumer safety charity, Electrical Safety First, revealed that four million adults across the country could be putting themselves at risk by admitting to never testing their smoke alarm.
As part of Electrical Fire Safety Week, Electrical Safety First is urging households to test smoke alarms at least once a month, replace batteries when needed, never disable smoke alarms, and adopt simple fire-safe habits at home.
Giuseppe Capanna, product safety engineer at Electrical Safety First, highlighted the dangers saying: “Every second counts when it comes to escaping a fire in your home and smoke alarms can be the life-saving gadget that proves to be the difference between life and death. But they need to be maintained to ensure they operate properly.”
While experts raise serious concerns about the infrequent testing of smoke alarms across the country, households are being warned their life could be at risk if they are missing an alarm in their home altogether.
Analysis of Government fire data by the charity also showed that out of 24,140 accidental electrical dwelling fires between 2023 and 2025, 4,498, or 19%, were recorded as having no smoke alarm.
Reflecting on this figure Giuseppe added: “People living in a property without a smoke alarm altogether are at a significantly higher risk of being serious injured or worse, losing their life, in the event a fire grips their home.”
Advice from Electrical Safety First includes:
One smoke alarm may not be enough – experts urge homes to ensure they have at least one working smoke alarm on every floor in their home, to ensure they are alerted to a fire as soon as possible, depending on whether it might start.
Don’t ignore the beep – If your alarm starts to beep never ignore it, this could indicate the battery is low or a fault with the sensor that requires attention.
Check which type of smoke alarm you have –some are battery operated only, whilst others are mains powered. Whatever type you have it’s essential you test it at least once a month for peace of mind and to ensure it operates properly.
Prevention is better than cure – building in preventative habits into your nightly routine, known as habit stacking, can reduce your risk. For example, when you lock the front door, check the hob is off, or while the kettle is boiling, unplug any unused appliances.
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service has lots of advice about smoke alarms on its website: www.lancsfirerescue.org.uk
