This is why interconnected smoke alarms are so important because if a fire started in or near your child’s room, YOU MUST be able to hear the alarm. Interconnected alarms means if one goes off they all go off, thereby saving lives.
30 to 40 years ago you had about 15 minutes to escape a house fire. Today, due to the increased use of plastics and synthetic materials in the modern home, means you may have LESS THAN 3 minutes to wake up and escape from a fire in your home!
Thankfully in Queensland it’s a legal requirement to install smoke alarms in every bedroom, but that’s not currently the case in other states and territories. Recent research has shown that when a fire starts in a bedroom with the door closed, the smoke alarms in the hallway do not activate. Even with the bedroom door open, the hallway smoke alarm may not activate in time to allow people in the bedrooms to get out. It makes sense, therefore, that smoke alarms should be installed inside bedrooms.
The ionisation alarm remains common in Australian households and has been blamed for deaths, including that of celebrity chef Matt Golinski's wife and three children in 2011. A report by the US Government's National Institute for Standards and Technology, found ionisation alarms took on average 30 to 33 minutes longer than photoelectric alarms to respond to smouldering fires.
While sound can disrupt sleep, scents cannot. People cannot rely on their sense of smell to awaken them to the danger of fire.
1. Should a fire occur in your rental property without compliant smoke alarms, your insurance may be null and void. 2. $667 fines for non-compliance 3. Smoke alarms prices will soar when demand far exceeds supply (which we’re already seeing).