Latest Smoke detector Stories

A U.S. company is voluntarily recalling tens of thousands of its dual sensor smoke alarms because they may not work correctly, federal officials say. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says about 94,000 Kidde model P12000 Dual Sensor Smoke Alarms were imported from China by Walter Kidde Portable Equipment Inc. of Mebane, N.C., and sold nationwide between August 2008 and this May for between $30 and $40 apiece. The smoke detectors include two buttons, HUSH and PUSH AND HOLD TO TEST...

Carbon monoxide alarms required in homes beginning July 1 MEBANE, N.C., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Less than eight months after the deaths of a Denver family and college student due to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, the "Lofgren and Johnson Families Carbon Monoxide Safety Act" goes into effect, offering added protection for families statewide from this odorless, tasteless and invisible gas. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090701/NE41135 ) As of July 1 all newly constructed...

BETHESDA, Md., June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Homeowners may be surprised to discover the actual differences between smoke alarms and smoke detectors -- and how they're not interchangeable, according to the latest issue of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR magazine. In "Two for Smoking," columnist Allan Colombo details the differences in how they work, maintenance and replacement recommendations. http://www.ecmag.com/index.cfm?fa=article&articleID=10132 "Allan's story is a key part of our magazine's fire...

Red Wings Forward Distributes Smoke Detectors to Local Fire Departments DETROIT, April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg distributed more than 1,300 smoke detectors to local fire departments today at Joe Louis Arena. Zetterberg serves as the Red Wings spokesman for the team's annual smoke detector collection, which provides life-saving smoke detectors to low income families throughout Metro Detroit. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090409/DE97036-a)...

Act Builds on Momentum of States to Pass Laws Requiring CO alarms MEBANE, N.C., April 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Approximately every nine minutes, a fire department in the US responds to a residential carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. To help protect families from this silent killer, 19 states have passed laws requiring CO alarms in certain residences. Now, US Congressman Jim Matheson (D-UT) has introduced the "Residential Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act," which if enacted, would expand...

WASHINGTON, March 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is urging consumers to replace their smoke alarm and carbon monoxide (CO) alarm batteries this Sunday as clocks are turned ahead for Daylight Saving Time. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030904/USCSCLOGO) "Safeguard your family by putting new batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms this weekend," said CPSC's Acting Chairman Nancy Nord. "Properly working smoke and CO...

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) urge families to inspect, protect and detect to safeguard loved ones from the 'Silent Killer' NORTHBROOK, Ill., Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Bitter cold weather can bring more than just frosty mornings and runny noses. Along with the winter chill come the dangers of deadly carbon monoxide (CO), whose odorless reach extends into household living spaces as more families turn to alternative methods -- such as a...

NEW YORK (AP) -- A family of five, including three children as young as 15 months, died in a blaze Saturday that filled an apartment with thick black smoke and kept the victims from escaping through the front door, fire officials said. A 10-year-old boy who survived was in critical condition after the fire in a public housing complex in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. The boy was found with two other family members in a back bedroom, while the rest of the family sought refuge in a full...

By Tremblay, Kenneth PENNSYLVANIA-A fire that began when an ashtray emptied into a trash can ignited its contents damaged an apartment in an eight- story building for low-income older adults. Fortunately, the detection systems worked as designed and alerted occupants. The steel-frame building, which was 150 feet (46 meters) long and 70 feet (21 meters) wide, had concrete block walls, poured concrete floors, and a metal-over-steel roof covered with rubber and crushed stone. There were local...

New study finds that household photoelectric alarms are more likely to remain workingIf you thought all smoke alarms were equally effective, think again.  According to a recent study by researchers from the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center (HIPRC) and the University of Washington in Seattle, photoelectric smoke alarms are much more likely to remain functioning after installation than are ionization alarms.  Ionization alarms are the most common type found in U.S....