Drowning in Toxic Smoke

If you do not have a working smoke alarm fitted in your house or flat you run the risk of 'drowning' in toxic smoke during a fire. This is the simple and stark fact of how most people die in a house fire and was recently highlighted in a British Government fire safety campaign on television.

During the advert the viewer is shown how it takes just a few short breaths of the toxic smoke generated in a home fire to drastically affect the breathing of a person and cause a sensation extremely similar to drowning. This effect is just as deadly too.

Government studies and statistics have shown the vast majority of people are completely unaware of this tragic effect during the course of a fire in the home. Nearly half of the people surveyed, 48% in-fact, said that they completely believed that they would be awoken by the smell of smoke if a fire were to break out in their property whist they slept.

Another 43% of the people questioned also believed that they could survive in a room filled with smoke for at least two minutes before they would suffer any breathing difficulties or collapse.

If a fire breaks out while you are sleeping it will take just moments for an average person to become completely and totally overwhelmed by the toxic smoke generated. This will simply mean that you will die in your sleep as you literally drown in the billowing smoke produced by the flames.

A house is literally filled with a huge amount of materials that can cause such a smoke cloud. Plastics, fabrics and paint are extremely common within any property.

In order to fully protect yourself you should install smoke alarms throughout the property and test them weekly to ensure they work. Make sure the batteries are changed regularly or purchase models with internal batteries which last between five and ten years.

A properly working smoke alarm has been proven to increase your chance of survival during a fire by over 50%. That's a statistic that should never be over looked.