So much for Smoke Detectors!
By jennybianca
@jennybianca (12912)
Australia
June 7, 2007 8:16am CST
We have five smoke detectors in my house. One of them is in my daughters bedroom, which is right next to my bedroom.
Tonight, I had to set up a vaporiser in my daughters room, as she has a cold virus.
Everyone else is asleep & I am on the computer doing MY lOt. The computer is a fair way from her bedroom, & the door in between is closed.
All of a sudden I hear a smoke detector alarm going off. Even where I am sitting, & my slight hearing problem (loss in one ear), I could hear the alarm. I guessed that it was going off because of the vaporiser.
I rushed up to my daughters bedroom, not because I thought there was a fire, as I knew there wasn't, but I didn't want anyone disturbed by the loud noise.
My daughter was still sound asleep, all of two metres from the alarm. I climbed a chair & fiddled with the batteries to turn it off. The whole time she stayed asleep.
Right next door, with the bedroom door open, my husband was asleep too.
Naturally, my two step children didn't budge from their sleep.
So much for the alarm waking us up in a fire!
4 people like this
16 responses
@pramodthakur (2365)
• India
7 Jun 07
It is good that you have smoke detectors at your house. But smoke detectors are very sensitive. Even in few amount of smoke it alarms. Even on cigrette. Hope detectors are checked properly and timely otherwise during need they may not work also. Periodical checking is must. From your mail seems you are alert and nice mother. Keep it on !
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
8 Jun 07
We check ours regularly & replace the batteries. We are a very fire concious family.
@KarenO52 (2950)
• United States
8 Jun 07
After all these years, you're still responding to fire alarms, just can't get away from them!
Well, your family might sleep through the alarm, but I'll bet you won't. I don't know how they can not hear that. Mine make a really horrible noise, and I could never sleep through that. I had to disable the one in the living room, because it would go off whenever I was cooking.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
8 Jun 07
The smoke detector in our family room goes off when I burn toast or sausages.
@pinklilly (3443)
• Australia
7 Jun 07
huh, That's scary to think what might happen if there is a fire... I wake at the slightest sound so I would be up in a heart beat.... There are many heavy sleepers out there and many who have hearing problems too that really makes you wonder.would everyone really wake up.. Maybe then we rely on the smell as well?????
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
8 Jun 07
My sense of smell isn't so good, although my husbands is. There has to be another way besides alarms, when a fire has started.
@Willowlady (10657)
• United States
7 Jun 07
It is amazing. I saw some show about fires and detectors and stuff and they said that most children do sleep through the alarm. Hubby on the other hand must be so secure that he sleeps contendly, that or he works and is so low on energy that the deep sleep that could end up killing him is happening. I hope you never have to deal with a fire like we have twice. Ours fortunately was in the day time. Nasty business.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
8 Jun 07
Yes, it's the smoke inhalation that jills people more often in house fires, which gets them whilst they are still sleeping.
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
7 Jun 07
It is the same way in my house! My husband and son would sleep through ANYTHING. I would probably hear the alarm, but no one else would. If for some reason I weren't home, it would be a lethal ending I'm sure. One night we needed to be evacuated because of a chemical spill on a highway very close to our house (the vapors were going into heatpump intakes). The fire department rang our doorbell endlessly before we got to teh door. Hubby and kids were sleeping through it and I , who normally would have heard it, was sleeping more deeply than normal secondary to taking a medication. Scary stuff!
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
8 Jun 07
Medication can certainly deepen one's sleep. How awful, to be woken up to evacuate for a chemical spill.
@vampoet (825)
• Singapore
8 Jun 07
Haha, this is hilarious. Maybe it is not so much the smoke detector's fault. Maybe you have a household of heavy sleepers. Or maybe they know Mum will come to the rescue if there really was a fire and slept right on. Try tickling your daughters's feet next time to see if she is only pretending to be asleep...lol
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
8 Jun 07
My daughter couldn't remember anything about it when I asked her this morning.
@kgwat70 (13387)
• United States
8 Jun 07
That is amazing that they did not hear the alarm go off while they were sleeping. They must be deep sleepers or just sleeping very well then to not hear it. I am a deep sleeper myself and I probably would not have heard it either. LOL It is a good thing that there was no fire in the house, though you would have had to wake everyone up. That is good that your home is well protected with smoke alarms.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
7 Jun 07
You would have better safety results with a dog or a cat, I am sure. I wake up for sounds that are not there, that I dream, but I do not know if a smoke detector would wake me, once I am asleep. At least you found this out safely. No real fire. Maybe you need a system that will activate lights. Your daughter might hear it if she was not ill. Glad you are safe, and safety minded.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
8 Jun 07
I can agree with that. Our cats sleep inside & are hypersensitive. In fact, I have heard of cats waking their owners during a fire.
@texasclassygal (5305)
• United States
7 Jun 07
Too funny ... my son when he was 3 years old slept though a hurricane that came right across our front lawn and bent every tree to the ground, another tree fell across our garage and flattened our car and another tree fell on our neighbors house, he did not even stir or move, never knew what was going on, the whole time.
1 person likes this
@charms88 (7538)
• Philippines
7 Jun 07
LOL, jenny. I don't know if I'm permitted to laugh. I also have one incident that I like to share with you. It was about 5 years ago. I'm living in a house with many neighbors and we all share one spacious garage for parking. One time, I happened to park my car nearest the big gate. I didn't know that during the early dawn, one of my neighbor kept ringing my doorbell. The couple's son is feverish and near to convulsion. My doorbell is installed in the living room and anyone can't hear it if we're inside our bedroom. My neighbor had no choice but to take a taxi to the hospital. I learned about it the following day. I was so apologetic and immediately installed doorbells on every bedrooms. Its a good thing my neighbor was not upset with me.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
8 Jun 07
I am glad they didn't blame you, as one really can't help sleeping through an alarm. It's not as if you slept through it deliberately.,
@Methodless (882)
• Canada
8 Jun 07
WOW! That's actually pathetic. Are the alarms adequate? That's something you should seriously look into. You may want to get new ones or something. Is everybody THAT heavy a sleeper? Most people learn to become light sleepers when they have kids. If they are heavy sleepers do you think the alarm, heat and panic combined would get them out of bed?
1 person likes this
@mummyofthree (2715)
•
9 Jun 07
Blimey! They must be very deep sleepers!
My smoke alarms are useless. Very loud but useless!
When I grill burgers for the kids tea, I always set the one at the top of the stairs off. The one next to the kitchen doesn't even make a sound!
Yet when I actually set fire to a tea towel and didn't realise, the whole downstairs was full of smoke yet not one went off!
I have had them both checked and apparantly they are in good working order!!!
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
8 Jun 07
that's scary..i worry about that myself.
i bought the most obnoxiously loud ones i could find for my house,but i still wonder if they're loud enough.
@golfproo (1839)
• Canada
9 Jun 07
Yikes! That is a little scary. Maybe it is time to get a new detector that is louder. In my house our smoke detector is so loud it is actually very annoying. Whenever you cook on the stove it goes off and I think you could actually hear it on the street!
cheers,
1 person likes this
@brendalee (6082)
• United States
8 Jun 07
I remember watching a show about this very same thing. They were showing how many people especially kids didn't hear a smoke alarm going off while they were sleeping. Mine has gone off before and I never heard it either. Its kind of scary to think about what would happen if there was an actual fire. One day my dogs were barking and that woke me up, it turns out that a plug in another room had shorted out and caught fire. Luckily the fire burned itself out but there was a lot of smoke in the house. The dogs woke me up not the smoke alarm.
1 person likes this
@Calais (10893)
• Australia
7 Jun 07
LOL....I know exactly what you mean. Unless they installed with water sprayers and hands to grab them and throw them out of bed, they dont work. My hubby dosnt even budge and my 7 year old daughter is just as bad....They dont even hear a thing.
1 person likes this
