Safer Smoke Detectors Available

New smoke detectors powered by lithium batteries that can last up to 10 years are now available for sale, the government’s consumer safety chief said Tuesday.

The new devices eliminate the need to change batteries every year - which many people forget to do - and could save lives, said Ann Brown, chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Several of the new models sell for between $15 and $30.

Some 4,000 people die each year in home fires.

“A smoke detector is an early warning system that can get you out of harm’s way, but a detector that doesn’t work cannot save your life,” Brown said.

A recent CPSC survey found that while 90 percent of homes had smoke detectors, about one-third of the detectors did not work because the batteries were dead or missing, said agency spokeswoman Kathleen Begala.