Families, check your smoke detector celebrities urge

Families are being urged to test their smoke alarm every week and to highlight the need, popular celebrities are backing the Push It Pledge.

Though 85 per cent of people do own a smoke alarm, less than one third of them test them every week.

People are more than twice as likely to die in accidental house fires where there is no working smoke alarm.

The toxic nature of fire smoke can drown people within just a few breaths.

Coronation Street actress, Helen Flanagan, who is supporting the campaign, said: “It’s scary how quickly a house fire can spread and in so many cases, it’s the smoke alarm that can make the difference between someone being able to escape in time, or not. We will be testing our smoke alarms every week from now on.”

The Government’s Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, Sir Ken Knight, recommends installing one on the ceiling in the middle of the room or hall, at least 30cm away from a wall or light.

He also believes the more alarms you have the safer you will be, installing one on each floor of your house and in any bedrooms where there is a large electrical appliance such as TV or computer.

He said: “A smoke alarm can buy valuable time to escape from a fire, but only if it’s working properly. It’s not enough to just install smoke alarms in your home – you must test them every week. The main reason that smoke alarms fail to activate is missing or flat batteries – if the battery needs replacing, do this immediately.”