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Buffalo FD Often Finds Smoke Detectors With No Working Batteries

By Sharon Osorio

July 9, 2010 Updated Nov 5, 2009 at 6:52 PM EST

Many of us make sure our cell phones and music players are charged. We wouldn't go a day with a dead battery in our remote controls.
But many people don't have working batteries in their smoke detectors.
"Through either the battery went out, nuisance smoke, or whatever, they took (the smoke detector) down, or they disconnected the battery, or they used the battery for a radio," says Buffalo Fire Department's Division Chief Donald McFeely. "We see that a lot too."
He says firefighters sometimes see the designated spot on the ceiling where a smoke detector was initially installed, but has since been taken down. Other times after a fire, they'll find a smoke detector in the right position on the ceiling, but they'll know it contains either no battery or a dead battery because the detector has become a melted blob of plastic.
McFeely offers some solutions to making sure you keep working batteries in your smoke detectors.
He says if you've taken out the battery to use in a different piece of equipment, buy a new pack of batteries so you can fill your smoke detector and have extras if the battery in your radio runs out.
Also, if you've pulled a battery out because your detector goes off when you cook, he says the detector is likely too close to the kitchen. He recommends moving it further from the kitchen. Make sure you do have a detector in or near the bedrooms.

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