Fire fears grow as millions admit to never testing smoke alarms

A new nationally representative survey of 2,000 adults across the UK conducted by consumer safety charity Electrical Safety First reveals that 7% of Brits admit to never testing their smoke alarm: the equivalent of four million adults across the country. Now, experts are raising serious fears that many households may be jeopardising their chances of escaping a fire outbreak.

“Every second counts when it comes to escaping a fire in your home,” urged Giuseppe Capanna, product safety engineer at Electrical Safety First. “Smoke alarms can be the life-saving gadget that proves to be the difference between life and death. they need to be maintained to ensure they operate properly.”

The charity recommends households test their smoke alarms at least once every month and that households take just a few seconds to build this task into their routine at home.

Further research conducted by Electrical Safety First reveals that only 22% of Brits test their smoke alarms once per month, with 39% of Brits testing their smoke alarm less often than this. Worryingly, almost one-in-ten test their smoke alarm just once a year or less.

“Fires don’t discriminate,” added Capanna. “Many people affected by fire often tell us they simply didn’t think something like this could happen to them, which is why it’s so important households take just a few seconds to test their smoke alarms. It’s also vital to consider if are enough smoke alarms in the home. It’s important to make sure alarms are positioned in areas within the home where a fire could start. There should be at least one smoke alarm on every floor of the property. The more alarms, the earlier the warning will be depending on where in the home a fire starts.”

Lucky escape

Recent reports demonstrate just how vital a smoke alarm can be, with one family in Derbyshire having a lucky escape after being alerted to a fire in the middle of the night in late November last year.

Reported to have been caused by an e-bike battery, the fire triggered the working smoke alarms and the family members were forced to escape from a first floor window.

Another local report reveals how smoke alarms played a vital role in allowing a family of five the vital minutes needed to escape from a fire in North Wales that occurred just before the New Year.

Alarm ‘blackspots’

While experts raise serious concerns about the infrequent testing of smoke alarms across the country, households are being warned that lives could be placed at risk if alarms are missing altogether.

Analysis of Government fire data by Electrical Safety First reveals the regions across England where alarms are absent. Out of 24,140 accidental electrical dwelling fires between 2023 and 2025, a total of 4,498 (or 19%) fires were recorded where there was no smoke alarm in place.

“People living in a property without a smoke alarm altogether are at a significantly higher risk of being serious injured or, worse still, losing their life in the event of a fire taking hold in their home,” asserted Capanna. “The Government’s own analysis reveals that people living without a working smoke alarm are eleven times more likely to die in a dwelling fire.”

Norfolk tops the list as one of the UK’s biggest fire safety ‘blackspots’. With smoke alarms absent in 188 homes where accidental electrical fires have broken out in the past two years, Norfolk poses the greatest fire safety risk per capita.

Avon ranked second (199), followed by Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (87), Hertfordshire (161) and Nottinghamshire (98) rounding out the five foremost fire safety blackspots.

Least likely to test

Separate survey data also shows where in the country people are least likely to test their smoke alarms. Sheffield ranks the highest in the list, with over 14% of its population admitting to never testing their smoke alarms.

The rest of the top five is dominated by major UK population centres, meaning that even more people could be putting themselves at risk. Liverpool follows closely, with 11% of residents neglecting to test their smoke alarms. London stands at 9%, while Bristol and Cardiff round up the list and are tied at 8%.

Electrical Safety First is urging households to test smoke alarms at least once every month, replace batteries when needed, never disable smoke alarms and adopt simple fire-safe habits in the home.

*one smoke alarm may not be enough: experts urge homes to ensure they have at least one working smoke alarm on every floor and ensure they are alerted to a fire as soon as possible

*don’t ignore the beep: if an alarm starts to beep it should never be ignored (this could indicate the battery is low or there’s a fault with the sensor that requires attention)

*check the type of smoke alarm: some are battery operated only, while others are mains powered

*prevention is better than cure: building preventative habits into nightly routine can serve to reduce the risk