Kidde (/ˈkɪdə/[2]) is an American multinational company that manufactures and distributes fire detection and suppression equipment, as well as smoke and CO alarm units.

Kidde is one of America's largest manufacturers of smoke alarms[3][4] and fire safety products.

[7] In 1923, Kidde purchased the patent rights for a siphon device that allowed quick release of carbon dioxide, improving the function of fire extinguishers.

In 1926, Walter Kidde & Company partnered with the Navy to design a system to protect airplane engines against fires.

In the 1950s, the company diversified into machinery and tool manufacturing, siphon devices for consumer and medical uses, and aircraft accessories.

During the Kidde acquisition process Pilgrim House was purchased by Williams Holdings plc, an industrial management firm.

[13] In 1996, Kidde International purchased Santa Barbara Dual Spectrum (SBDS) from Hughes Aircraft.

[11][16] In December 2004, Financial Times reported Kidde as "the market leader in residential fire protection in the United States.

"[17] In April 2005, United Technologies Corporation finalized its acquisition of Kidde and place the company under its new Fire & Security brand.

[18][19] In July 2005, Kidde recalled 10 pound industrial fire extinguishers with Zytel valves due to discharge issues, manufactured between 1999 and 2000.

[21] In March 2009, 9 models of Kidde XL fire extinguishers manufactured from October 2007 through April 2008 were recalled due to failure of operation.

[23] In April 2013, Kidde expanded its Worry-Free product line to include UL-listed carbon monoxide (CO) alarms.

[24] In September 2014, Kidde recalled 3 models of smoke alarm (i12010, i12010SCO, and KN-COSM-IBA) for failing to alert buyers of emergency after a power outage.

[26] In November 2016, Kidde recalled over 3.6 million (+1.5 million in Canada) NightHawk model KN-COSM-IB combination smoke alarms due to the 7 year "end of life" signal timer being restarted when the battery was replaced, meaning that the alarm cannot signal that its sensors have expired.

[27][28] A year later in November 2017, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall notice for 134 models of Kidde fire extinguishers citing failures to discharge correctly when used.

[32] The reason for the recall was a yellow cap left on one of the sensors that could fail to alert buyers of the alarm of a possible fire.