Pardes-

How horribly frightening!!! I'm so glad that you're alright.

The province I reside in requires every home to have working smoke detectors outside sleeping areas. We have two wired-in ones (which are to be replaced every 10 years) one the 2nd floor and the other one is in the basement. We also have a couple of battery operated ones. They are a combination of photoelectric and ionization technology. We change the batteries when we change the clocks.

We also hav CO2 detectors on every floor.

Our first year of marraige we lived in a lovely apartment above a store. Woke up one night to a major fire in the store..so I'm a bit edgy when it comes to fire safety.