A smoke alarm can save your life. You can get one for under £5 from a DIY, electrical or hardware shop. Some garages and supermarkets also sell them.

Buy a smoke alarm that has a British Standard Kitemark on it. Follow the instructions to fit it.
Fit a smoke alarm between the living areas and the bedrooms. Ideally, you should fit one in every room except the kitchen and bathroom.

Make sure you can hear it throughout your home, especially in the bedrooms.
Test your smoke alarm
Test it each week by pressing the test button.

Change the battery every year or when you need to. At the same time, use your vacuum cleaner to get rid of any dust inside it.
Replace the battery in your smoke alarm if the low battery warning sounds (an intermittent bleep) replace the battery with a new one as soon as you can.

Smoke alarms for the deaf.
You can also buy smoke alarms that have a vibrating pad or a flashing light if you have difficulty hearing. You can get more information from the Royal National Institute for the Deaf via the links page or on 020 7296 8000.

Remember a smoke alarm is useless if it doesn't have a battery or the battery is flat.

Last year (Dec 2001), 46 people died in 44 fires in London homes, only 15 of which were fitted with smoke alarms. Six of those 15 alarms did not work because, in most cases, the battery had been removed.

In the years 1996-2000, there were some 27,000 fires in London, causing 418 deaths. Using these statistics, it has been found that you are more likely to die if you are:
Over 60
Live in the Boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Brent or Westminster
Don't possess a working smoke alarm
Are a smoker
Have a few evening drinks
(the above statistics have been taken from the London Fire Brigades report 'Fire Deaths in London 1996-2000').

You should know what to do if you have a fire. If a fire breaks out, you might have to get out in dark and smoky conditions. Getting out will be a lot easier if you've already planned your escape route.

Fit smoke alarms that have the British Standard Kitemark on them.
Plan your escape route. Make sure that there isn't anything in the way that might slow you down or trip you up. Tell everyone else in your home about the escape route and practise it.

If you have difficulty getting about you might want to think about having your bedroom on the ground floor if this is practical. Try to make it as near as possible to the front or back door.

If you need help to get out, make sure that you have some way of getting help by your bed, like a buzzer, an intercom or a telephone.

A full copy of the leaflet 'Make Your Plan. Get Out Alive' will help you to plan your escape if your alarm activates because of fire.

This leaflet ia already available in 18 languages. It is currently available in Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Farsi, French, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Somali, Spanish, Turkish and Urdu.

To view the leaflet in another language, visit the Dept of Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) website, via the links page.

GIVE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY A FIGHTING CHANCE - GET A SMOKE ALARM AND MAKE PLANS TO GET OUT OR BE SAFE, IN AN EMERGENCY!