About one in five smoke alarm failures was due to dead batteries.
Working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in reported home fires in half.
In fires considered large enough to activate the smoke alarm, hardwired alarms operated 91 percent of the time, while battery powered alarms operated only 75 percent of the time.
Automatic fire sprinkler systems cut the risk of dying in a home fire by about 80 percent.
Home fire sprinklers can contain and might even extinguish a fire in less time than it would take the fire department to arrive on the scene.
Sprinklers are highly effective because they react so quickly in a fire. They reduce the risk of death or injury from a fire because they dramatically reduce the heat, flames and smoke produced, allowing people time to evacuate the home.
Cooking equipment is the leading cause of home structure fires and associated injuries, and was tied for the third leading cause of home fire deaths.
Unattended cooking was by far the leading cause of these fires.