SMOKE ALARMS: PLEASE USE THEM

From: New York attorney Gary E. Rosenberg (personal injury and accident attorney and lawyer; serving Brooklyn Queens Bronx; Queens Injury Lawyer)

Residential fire deaths have decreased steadily as the number of homes with smoke alarms increased. Reports from the National Fire Protection Association show that people

have nearly a 50 percent better chance of surviving a fire if their home has the recommended number of smoke alarms.

I have blogged about accidental fires causing death and serious burns and other injuries. On February 20, 2010 fire swept through a Bronx apartment building, burning a 60 year-old tenant

and causing a 39 year-old woman to fracture both legs after she grabbed onto a window air conditioner to escape the flames, falling several stories down to the ground. No mention is made of smo0ke detectors, but I bet that properly located andworking smoke detectors - which would have given the residents time to escape - would have lessened the injuries.

Likewise, news reports do not mention smoke detectors when they reported that on December 31, 2009 an 81 year-old Brooklyn grandmother died in a fire in her apartment. Her family tried to rescue her but they could not get to her through the heat and smoke

The entire Balbuena family of Manhattan was wiped out by fire on October 11, 2008 at around 6:30 A.M. at 401 West 18th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. Their apartment's partially-melted smoke detector had been twice disabled. It should have been wired into the building electrical system, and had a battery back-up. The battery had been removed and the wires disconnected, the New York City Fire Department said. A working smoke detector might have saved the six people.

Smoke alarms that are 10 years old are near the end of their service life and should be replaced. Some people think that their smoke alarm sits idle until smoke is present. But it is working every minute, constantly monitoring the air 24 hours a day. For example, an ionization smoke alarm goes through 3.5 million monitoring cycles in 10 years. In a photoelectric smoke alarm, a light operates 24 hours a day to check for smoke particles in the air. Just like any electrical appliance, the components of smoke alarms wear out over time. When a smoke alarm reaches 10 years of use, the potential of failing to detect a fire increases substantially. Replacing them after 10 years reduces the likelihood of failure.

Both hard-wired and battery-operated alarms are equally affected by age. If you have a monitored home alarm system, there is generally a smoke detector included in the system that will directly notify the monitoring company if the smoke detector is set off. The monitoring company will then notify the local fire department.

The number of smoke detectors and their location depends on two factors, the number of levels in the home and the number of bedrooms.

For new homes, install a smoke alarm in each bedroom, one outside the bedroom area that is close enough to be heard through closed doors, and a minimum of one on each level of the home. The objective of having a smoke alarm outside the bedroom area is to alert sleeping occupants of a fire that starts outside of the bedrooms. For this reason, if the bedrooms in a home are located in different areas, than each area should have its own smoke alarm. If a home is large, it is better to use more than one on each level. The closer the smoke alarm is to the fire source, the faster it will work, so extra units give you more safety.

Unfortunately, the requirements for existing homes are not as stringent as new home requirements. In existing homes, a smoke alarm is only required outside the bedroom area and one on each level of the home. However, it is recommended that homeowners install additional smoke alarms, and existing homes should be equipped with at least the same number of smoke alarms that are required in new homes. It makes sense to install a smoke alarm in each bedroom. A good number of fires start in bedrooms, and the closer the smoke alarm is to the fire, the faster it will alert you. If you need assistance in determining the number of smoke detectors for your home and where they should be placed, contact your local fire department for advice.

Smoke alarms are not designed to work in extreme heat or cold, or in areas where smoke and dust are common. Thus, they are not recommended for unheated attics or similar spaces. The manufacturer's instructions will include the temperature range that the unit is designed for. Smoke alarms should not be used in garages for two reasons. First, garages are usually not heated or cooled, and thus are sometimes above or below the temperature range that the unit was designed for. Second, the smoke from engine exhaust fumes may cause nuisance alarms and clog the smoke alarm.

The primary area of concern is your kitchen. A smoke alarm that is installed too close to cooking appliances may result in nuisance alarms. When a smoke alarm is installed within 20 feet of cooking, it should either be photoelectric or have a silencing button.

Heat detectors are now referred to as heat alarms. Smoke alarms consistently respond much faster to typical residential fires than heat alarms. Heat alarms are recommended for additional protection. Additionally, heat alarms are recommended for areas in the home where smoke alarms are not recommended. The examples include garages, attics, unheated crawl spaces and kitchens. The air in the spaces like garages can become too hot or cold for smoke alarms to operate properly. Smoke alarms are generally not recommended for kitchens because the cooking may cause nuisance alarms. On the other hand, if the smoke alarm does not cause nuisance alarms, then its location is fine.

The biggest reason that smoke alarms do not work is because people remove the batteries - either to stop the low battery signal or a nuisance alarm - and forget to replace them. Testing your smoke alarm is very important. It is recommended that you test your alarms regularly, at least once a month. It is also suggested you replace the batteries at least once a year. Try to pick a date that is important to you or easy to remember, such as Christmas, birthdays or anniversaries.

I blogged that The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission urges residents to make a habit of changing carbon monxide and smoke alarm batteries when the time changes and that consumers also test their electrical appliances. For example, I blogged about a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall of a brand of dehumidifiers - which remove moisture from the air. Usually used in warm weather, Home Depot recalled Hampton Bay brand dehumidifiers that can catch overheat and lead to an accidental fire and hurt or injure people by burning them.

Smoke alarms sold with 10-year batteries are normally sealed to prevent the replacement of the battery. This is because the smoke alarm itself should be replaced after 10 years. The low-battery signal will begin to "chirp" (a brief beep about once every minute), meaning that it is time to discard the whole unit and replace it with a new smoke alarm. You can buy 10-year batteries that fit in other smoke alarms, but you should never put one in an older smoke alarm. The battery will outlast the working life of the smoke alarm. With this being said, 10-year batteries do not last their life in photoelectric smoke alarms. If you install a long-term battery in a photoelectric smoke alarm, plan on a scheduled battery change and do not keep the alarm in service longer than the recommended time. Ten-year batteries will not last for their stated service life

in photoelectric smoke alarms because this type of smoke alarm uses more power than an ionization type. However, there is nothing wrong with installing a long-life battery in them as long as you remember to replace the smoke alarm itself when it is 10 years old.

It is important to clean your alarm. Smoke alarms have small screens around the sensing chamber to keep small bugs and dust particles. These can accumulate on the screen and slow air movement. Vacuum around the outside of the alarm at least annually.

Below is a comparison of household detectors:

*Ionization vs. Photoelectric - The two most commonly recognized smoke detection technologies are ionization smoke detection and photoelectric smoke detection.

*Ionization smoke detection is generally more responsive to flaming fires. How they work: Ionization-type smoke alarms have a small amount of radioactive material between two electrically charged plates, which ionizes the air and causes current to flow between the plates. When smoke enters the chamber, it disrupts the flow of ions, thus reducing the flow of current and activating the alarm.

*Photoelectric smoke detection is generally more responsive to fires that begin with a long period of smoldering (called "smoldering fires").

How they work: Photoelectric-type alarms aim a light source into a sensing chamber at an angle away from the sensor. Smoke enters the chamber, reflecting light onto the light sensor; triggering the alarm.For each type of smoke alarm, the advantage it provides may be critical to life safety in some fire situations. Home fatal fires, day or night, include a large number of smoldering fires and a large number of flaming fires. You can not predict the type of fire you may have in your home or when it will occur. Any smoke alarm technology, to be acceptable, must perform acceptably for both types of fires in order to provide early warning of fire at all times of the day or night and whether you are asleep or awake. The best evidence has always indicated that either type of smoke alarm will provide sufficient time for escape for most people for most fires of either smoldering or flaming type. However, research is ongoing, and standards are living documents. If at any time, research points to a different conclusion, then that will lead to proposals for changes in the NFPA standard or the closely related Underwriters Laboratories standard for testing and approving smoke alarms. Both organizations currently have task groups looking at smoke alarm performance in the current home environment.

For the best protection, homeowners should install/incorporate both technologies in their homes. In addition to individual ionization and photoelectric alarms, combination alarms that include both technologies in a single device are available.

REPORTS AND STATISTICS

Almost all households in the U.S. have at least one smoke alarm, yet in 2003-2006, smoke alarms were present in only two-thirds (69 percent) of all reported home fires and operated in just under half (47 percent) of the reported home fires. ("Homes" includes one- and two-bedroom apartments, and manufactured housing.) Forty percent of all home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms, while 23 percent resulted from homes in which smoke alarms were present but did not operate. The death rate per 100 reported fires was twice as high in homes without a working smoke alarm as it was in home fires with this protection. Hardwired smoke alarms are more reliable than those powered solely by batteries.