All homes in Massachusetts are, by law, required to have smoke detectors and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms. This is required in order to alert residents of a buildup of smoke caused by a fire or lethal CO often caused by fossil fuel burning equipment in a home, such as a furnace or wood burning stove.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, an average of 1,450 fire deaths occurs every year in homes with missing or non-functioning smoke alarms. Unfortunately, many homeowners allow batteries to run out and/or do not replace them after a certain number of years causing the functionality to fail. Therefore, despite the laws on these devices, many homes are not protected in the case of fire or CO poisoning. 

The Statistics 

Smoke alarms provide an early warning of a fire and CO detectors alert homeowners to high levels of the deadly CO gas in a home, giving people additional escape time. In 2012-2016, smoke alarms were present in three-quarters (74%) and sounded in more than half (53%) of the home fires reported to U.S. fire departments.

CO detectors, on the other hand, have only been around since 1993, and like smoke detectors, can be life savers. These detectors protect us from CO, a poisonous gas that’s also colorless, odorless, and deadly. This poisonous gas is produced by the incomplete burning of fuels like coal, wood, charcoal, oil, kerosene, propane, and natural gas. On average, about 170 people die every year from CO produced by nonautomotive consumer products.

Fire and Smoke Detectors 

With the thousands of lives lost every year and millions in property damage caused by residential fires, it is smart to have a fire and smoke alarm system installed professionally in your home. We can place the detectors in the locations required by state law and then connect them to our monitoring stations that can alert the proper authorities should the sensors go off. 

Instant Alarm offers wireless and internet monitoring options. You do not need a phone line for monitoring as we are aware that many homes no longer use a landline. 

Equity Alarms CO Monitoring                          

Since CO is a colorless and odorless gas, the alert from a CO monitor may be the only warning your family gets. The CO system we install in homes is monitored by our operators at our own UL listed central monitoring station. Just like the fire and smoke detectors, we offer wireless and internet monitoring options for our CO systems as well. 

To learn more about our fire, smoke and CO systems, contact us or check out our website for more information.