American homes suffer an unwanted fire every 10 seconds, and every 60 seconds they suffer a fire serious enough to call the fire department.  Most importantly, every two and a half hours someone is killed in a home fire--that's 4,000 people killed in 1991 alone.  Another 20,000 people are injured in home fires in a typical year.

Protecting your family from fire requires advance planning for what to do if fire strikes.  This includes the use of protective devices, usually smoke detectors, to provide early warning of fire, especially at night when they are most vulnerable.  But depending on the size and layout of your home and the characteristics of your family, you may need to do more to assure their safety.