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Safety at home

Be readyat home.

Working smoke and CO alarms, an escape plan everyone has practiced, and a house number responders can find. A few small jobs now help everyone get out fast if something happens.

Fire, smoke or a CO alarm? Get out, then call 911.

Call from outside, on a cell phone or a neighbor's phone. Never report an emergency through this website, a form or social media.

A volunteer in a helmet kneels with a hose nozzle during training on a grass field while the crew looks on
Hose training

01 · Smoke alarms

Early warning on every level

Working smoke alarms warn you early, so you can get outside quickly. Make sure everyone at home knows the sound and what to do when they hear it.

  1. Upstairs

    • BedroomSmoke alarm,CO alarm
    • Hallway outside the bedroomsSmoke alarm,CO alarm
    • BedroomSmoke alarm,CO alarm

  2. Main floor

    • Living room, or near the stairs going upSmoke alarm,CO alarm
    • KitchenKeep alarms at least 10 feet from the stove.

  3. Basement

    • Near the bottom of the stairsSmoke alarm,CO alarm
Where they go, in one example home: inside every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level, including the basement. CO alarms go in the same places.

Putting them up

  • On the ceiling, or high on a wall with the top of the alarm no more than 12 inches below the ceiling.
  • At least 10 feet from the stove, so cooking does not set them off.
  • At least 3 feet from air vents, ceiling fans and bathrooms with a shower or tub.
  • Not in the garage, or in an attic with no heat or air conditioning.
  • Choose alarms listed by a recognized testing lab, and follow the instructions that come with them.

Keep them working

  1. Monthly

    Test every alarm

    Press the test button and listen. If an alarm stays quiet, put in a new battery, if it takes one. Still quiet, or a sealed battery? Replace the alarm.

  2. Yearly

    Change the battery

    Alarms with a replaceable battery need a new one at least once a year. So does the backup battery in a hardwired alarm.

  3. 10 years

    Replace the alarm

    Replace each smoke alarm 10 years after the date it was made. The date is on the back or outside of the alarm. No date? Replace it.

  • Chirping?

    A single chirp every 30 or 60 seconds means the battery is low: change it right away. Still chirping with a new battery, or a sealed 10-year battery? Replace the whole alarm.

  • Cooking set it off?

    Never take the battery out. Open a window or door and press the hush button, or wave a towel at the alarm.

  • Connect them

    Interconnected alarms all sound when one does, so you hear it anywhere in the house. A licensed electrician can connect wired alarms, or use wireless ones.

  • Hard of hearing?

    A flashing strobe light or a pillow or bed shaker can alert people who are deaf or have hearing loss. A low-frequency alarm can help wake people with hearing loss.

02 · Carbon monoxide

The gas you can't see or smell

Carbon monoxide, or CO, comes from fuel that does not burn completely. It can build up when a furnace, water heater, dryer, stove or generator is not working or vented properly, or when a vehicle runs in a garage. A CO alarm is your early warning.

  • Put CO alarms in every room where someone sleeps, outside each sleeping area and on every level, including the basement. Mount them where the maker's instructions say.
  • Choose alarms listed by a recognized testing lab. Connect them, so that when one sounds, they all sound.
  • Test them once a month. Replace them when the end-of-life signal sounds, or when the maker's instructions say to.
  • A CO alarm does not replace a smoke alarm, and a smoke alarm does not replace a CO alarm. Learn the sound of each.

If the alarm sounds

CO alarm going off?

  1. Get everyone outside to fresh air, right away.

  2. Call 911 from outside.

  3. Stay out until emergency responders say it is safe to go back in.

A headache, dizziness, nausea or flu-like symptoms at home, especially in more than one person, can be signs of CO. Go outside right away and call 911.

Only a low-battery chirp? Replace the battery, or the alarm. If the alarm still sounds, get to fresh air and call 911.

Keep CO out

  • Generators

    Run them outdoors only, at least 20 feet from doors, windows and vents. Never in a garage, even with the door open.

  • Vehicles

    Never leave a vehicle running in the garage, even with the door open. Move it out as soon as it starts, and never remote start it inside.

  • Snow

    After a storm, clear snow from the dryer, furnace, stove and fireplace vents, and from the exhaust pipe of a running vehicle.

  • Grills and ovens

    Use grills outdoors only, away from doors, windows and vents. Never heat your home with the oven or stove.

03 · Escape plan

Two ways out. One place to meet.

Make a home fire escape plan with everyone who lives with you, then practice it until everyone knows what to do.

  1. Draw your home

    Sketch each level. Mark every door and window, and every smoke alarm.

  2. Find two ways out of every room

    Usually a door and a window. Check that they open easily, and keep halls, stairs and exits clear.

  3. Pick a meeting place

    Something that stays put, like a tree, a light pole or the mailbox, a safe distance in front of your home, where firefighters will easily see you.

  4. Decide who helps whom

    Young children, older adults and people with disabilities may need help to wake up and get out. Choose who will help them, and teach children how to get out on their own.

  5. Practice twice a year

    Press the smoke alarm's test button to start the drill. Practice at night and during the day, and use both ways out.

When the alarm sounds

Get out. Stay out.

  • Get out fast. Leave your things behind.
  • Smoke in the way? Get low and go under it to your way out.
  • Feel the doorknob and the door before you open it. If you feel heat, keep it shut and use your second way out.
  • Close doors behind you. A closed door can slow smoke, heat and fire.
  • Go to your meeting place, then call 911.
  • Never go back inside. Tell firefighters right away if a person or a pet is still inside.

Can't get out?

Close the door. Stuff towels or bedding into the cracks around doors and vents to keep smoke out. Call 911 and say exactly where you are, then signal from a window with a flashlight or a light-colored cloth.

04 · House number

Can they find you?

Firefighters and other responders need to find your home, day or night. Make your house number easy to read from the road.

  • Walk out to the road and look back. Can you read your number from there?
  • Make sure it can be seen in the daytime and at night.
  • Post it on the house and at the driveway, with reflective numbers.
  • Hard to read? Put up house numbers that can be seen from the road.

Reflective, and easy to read from the road.

05 · Calling 911

Call 911. Stay on the line.

Call 911 when someone needs firefighters, police or an ambulance right away. The call-taker's questions help send the right help to the right place, so answer them and follow their instructions.

  1. The call-taker asks

    Where is the emergency?

    Give the street address. In a large building, add the room or apartment number.

  2. The call-taker asks

    What is happening?

    Say what is wrong: a fire, smoke, a crash, someone hurt. Tell them if anyone is trapped or missing.

  3. The call-taker asks

    What number are you calling from?

    Give the number you are calling from, then answer the rest of their questions.

Don't hang up.Stay on the line until the call-taker tells you to.

  • Fire at home?

    Get out first. Call 911 from outside, on a cell phone or a neighbor's phone.

  • Dialed by mistake?

    Stay on the line and tell the call-taker. If you hang up, they may think there is an emergency and send help.

  • Teach your children

    Even young children can learn when to call 911, and when not to. Make sure everyone at home knows how to call 911 from a cell phone.

The fire station's apparatus bay with its doors open and a fire truck parked outside

Not an emergency?

Sanpete County Dispatch

(435) 835-2345

The department's non-emergency number is Sanpete County Dispatch. The department has no direct line of its own, so save this number in your phone.

Volunteers setting up a vehicle stabilization strut during rescue training
Rescue training at the station

Fire, smoke or a CO alarm? Get out and call 911.

The safety guidance on this page is written in our own words from these official sources: