Question:
We recently had a near miss in our home. There was a small fire in the oven that produced a good amount of smoke. The fire was extinguished easily, but we were suprised how long it took the smoke detector to go off. Any suggestions on how to properly test a smoke detector?

Answer: -Don't know where your smoke detector is located but you may want to check that first. Above a doorway is usually good because smoke rises and then spreads. Doorways are the first paths.

-The problem is really ionization type smoke detectors. They are very poor at detecting smoky fires, and very easy to false trigger with hair spray, etc. Photoelectric detectors are better at smoke (but by some accounts not as good for smoldering fires).