“ASI cares about you and your family. We can repair or replace your property. We can’t replace you or your loved ones.” - David Pratt, general manager, ASI
About the Battery Project
At ASI, we want to ensure all of our policyholders understand the importance of working smoke alarms. As a homeowner, it can be easy to overlook or forget just how important your smoke alarm can be. That’s why we started our annual battery project more than 15 years ago to show our commitment to our policyholders’ safety.
Each year, ASI mails 9-volt batteries to its policyholders, along with a safety reminder to replace the old batteries in their home’s smoke detectors. Our goal of this project is to do our part in trying to help prevent injury or death in residential fires.
Residential Fire Numbers are Staggering
- 50% A working smoke alarm cuts the risk of dying in a home fire in half.
- 10 million The number of batteries ASI has mailed since starting the project.
- 8-10 years How often the entire smoke detector unit should be replaced.
- 365,500 The number of house fires each year.
- 2,560 The number of deaths by home fires annually.
- $6.6 billion The amount of annual property losses by home fires.
- 2 minutes The amount of time you might have to escape once your smoke alarm sounds.
*Statistics provided by usfa.fema.gov, nfpa.org, ready.gov, and csia.org.
Safety Tips
In the event of a house fire, survival can depend on your preparation, alertness and a well-rehearsed escape plan. We have provided a few basic safety and prevention tips to consider while safeguarding your home and your family.
Be Prepared
• Install smoke alarms outside bedrooms on each level of your home.
• Make sure they are located away from air vents.
• Test the alarms regularly and change batteries at least once a year.
• Never disable or remove smoke alarm batteries.
• Develop a fire escape plan and practice with small children.
• Review all ways to exit each room of the house.
• Make sure safety bars on windows can be opened from inside your home.
• Escape the dwelling first and call for emergency assistance.
Practice Prevention Measures
• Replace space heaters with central heating.
• When cooking, never leave the kitchen unattended.
• Keep flammables and combustibles away from stove burners and other heat sources.
• Turn off all appliances before going to bed or leaving the house.
• Never overload an electrical socket.
• Don’t use appliances with frayed cords or wires.
• Never leave burning items unattended. For example: cigarettes, candles or fireplaces.
• Keep up with chimney cleaning maintenance and use metal mesh screen while fire is burning.
• Keep lighters and matches out of the reach of children.
Helpful Links
• National Fire Protection Association
• American Red Cross
• U.S. Fire Administration
• National Safety Council
• Sparky.org
• Safe Kids Worldwide
• United States Consumer Product Safety Commission
Reach Out to ASI
Above all else, we care about people. The safety and well being of others comes first for our team members at ASI.