MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP, MI - 99% of the time, homeowners forget about the smoke detectors resting silently above their heads.

When that 1% arrives in the form of blaring sirens, flames, and smoke, make sure your house is prepared.

Smoke detectors are a foolproof art. Smoke in the house, alarm goes off, residents react by leaving the house. It's a simple science for those who prepared in the past, easy to setup and even easier to maintain.

To start, make sure every floor of your house is equipped with an alarm, especially every bedroom and the kitchen. Test the alarms every month to make sure they're alert and working, and replace batteries immediately if necessary.

In one of the most surprising, and most saddening statistic of the year, the NFPA reported no smoke alarms were present in more than one-third (37%) of the home fire deaths. More than one third of people in the United States could have been alerted to the fires in their homes, and that fatal number could be substantially lower.

Finally, replace every smoke alarm in your house every ten years to ensure a safe home. Even if it isn't fireproof, the fire certainly won't catch you off-guard.

Don't become a statistic. Make sure you stay in the 99% of those people fortunate enough to catch a problem with their detectors before its too late.