There's no smoke (alarm test) without fire

The weekly fire alarm test in the office, and SY Fire Department's tweets about testing your smoke alarms have prompted a discussion between the test team.

Is pressing the 'Test' button really a reliable enough test for this? All you are doing is unit testing the noisy bit. This does not prove that your fire alarm or smoke detector will actually detect fire or smoke.

Would you test a parachute without making sure the rip-cord works?

Would you bypass the pedal when testing the brakes in your car?

Made me think of this XKCD comic...

Yes. Ok. I'm pretty sure the smoke and fire detecting bits are tested now and again too... But surely they should be checked just as often as the alert system?



On a COMPLETELY unrelated matter... Has anyone got a Zippo I can borrow?