I'd like to see a reference for this claim. I've seen lots of news
stories where people died in fires where they either did not have any
smoke detectors, or else had ones with dead or removed batteries.
I've never read a story about anyone dying in a fire due to the power
to the smoke detector being taken out by the fire. Here in NJ all the
new construction homes I see have AC powered units, as does my home.
It's a theoreticaly possibility that the power to the smoke detector
could be lost in a fire before the alarm goes off, but IMO, that risk
is very small compared to having a dead battery.


the real risk is fires cause by flame-powered devices
that you're using because the power's out....