Smoke Detectors

MrBishop

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
Don't know if this thread goes in here or RW, but in here, it'll get more views.

In the Montreal area, over the past two days, we've had two big fires which included deaths. These deaths could've been prevented if the apartments in question had had working fire-detectors.

1st fire - 3 kids dead (11 years, 9 years, 18 months) source
2nd fire - mother in critical condition, a young girl with 3rd degree facial burns, father burned badly too.Source

Now...I know that I have 3 smoke detectors in my house, plus two ABC fire extinguishers...I know that they all work 'cause I check them and replace the batteries when it goes from Daylight-savings time to reg time.

What I don't know is...do you check yours? When was the last time you did? and Is your family and your life worth more than the price of a 9v battery?

Something to think on, ain't it?

radio-battery.jpg
>
children.jpg
?
 
Guess that isn't good if the power goes out...we have a few battery powered ones too though...a variety...worst thing about the hardwired ones is that if they go off cause someone burned something there is no battery to pull out to make the suckers shut up.
 
In the apartment I live in they have hardwired detectors in the bedrooms and living room/kitchen areas with battery backups. They are tested regularly.

I don't believe there's any in the house, though. :(

My father-in-law got us the best present anyone could get, I think - one year for christmas he wrapped up fire extinguishers and gave those out as gifts.
 
mine was destroyed in a freak accident.......I had to beat it to death when it made a racket everytime I cooked bacon.

Should prolly get a new one tho'...
 
I believe there is a law in Sweden that states that every house which is used for sleeping in must contain at least one working smoke detector or something like that. I think we have four or five of them... one in each bedroom, one by the stairs and one in the living room. I have mine right next to my computer, wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her. My baby.
 
The US doesn't have a law like that, per se, but it's part of pretty much every city and county building code. There have been a few fires in the Fresno area the last few months that wouldn't have been fatal if there had been working smoke detectors... which in California are the landlord's responsibility to provide in a rented dwelling. I'm not allowed to change the battery in my smoke detector myself, but management does bi-annual inspections and changes the batteries at that point.

The most recent case in Fresno is fucked up on several different levels. The tenants in an old house had been complaining about the defective heater for quite a long time. Well, eventually, the couch that was sitting on top of it (WTF?) started to smolder. It smoldered for several hours before it burst into flames. It's generally agreed that had there been a smoke detector, everyone in the house would have woke up and had over an hour to figure out what to do. But the owner of the house bought the place in 1975, before the local building code required smoke detectors in every house, so it was grandfathered in and the owner was not cited for the violation of the building code because of that exemption.
 
Inkara1 said:
I'm not allowed to change the battery in my smoke detector myself, but management does bi-annual inspections and changes the batteries at that point.
Click to expand...

why is that?

we don't have any detectors in our house. no extinguishers either.

*makes mental note to do something about it*
 
Inkara1 said:
The US doesn't have a law like that, per se, but it's part of pretty much every city and county building code. There have been a few fires in the Fresno area the last few months that wouldn't have been fatal if there had been working smoke detectors... which in California are the landlord's responsibility to provide in a rented dwelling. I'm not allowed to change the battery in my smoke detector myself, but management does bi-annual inspections and changes the batteries at that point.

The most recent case in Fresno is fucked up on several different levels. The tenants in an old house had been complaining about the defective heater for quite a long time. Well, eventually, the couch that was sitting on top of it (WTF?) started to smolder. It smoldered for several hours before it burst into flames. It's generally agreed that had there been a smoke detector, everyone in the house would have woke up and had over an hour to figure out what to do. But the owner of the house bought the place in 1975, before the local building code required smoke detectors in every house, so it was grandfathered in and the owner was not cited for the violation of the building code because of that exemption.
Click to expand...
I can see both views on that.

Depends entirely on the state, but even a lawsuit wouldn't have changed anything. In some courts the couch would be considered overwhelming negligence on the part of the tenants, even with the history of complains and known problems (check out Kansas' Aguirre vs Adams (1991) for a similar case). Strange, but true.

Got two smoke detectors here which are both hardwired and on batteries (for outages). The third is hardwired into the alarm system.
 
kuulani said:
why is that?
Click to expand...

Probably to limit management's liabilities.

I'm a firm believer in detection and extinguishing capabilities. There is a smoke detector in every room of my house except the bathrooms. There is a fire extinguisher in each bedroom and two in the kitchen, and two more in the canoe barn. Funny thing is, my place is less than half a mile from the fire station. Paranoid? Nope. Prepared. Learned it in the Boy Scouts.

Fire extinguisher ratings explained:

http://www.hanford.gov/fire/safety/extingrs.htm

(excellent topic, Bish :cool: )
 
Thanks Sharky

We had a visit from the local firemen last night. They were doing the rounds of the area, checking detectors and fire extinguishers. I passed :)

They also changed the rules...it used to be 1 smoke detector for the floor with the bedrooms, now it's one per floor. Safer, by my count. Hopefully..it'll save lives!
 
Here at uni they run on emergency circuit and are checked every thursday, but at home, i think they are heat detectors and a couple of smoke detectors, on emergency circuit.

There was a big fire the other week, and the alarms never went off in hall 5. One of my mates has 2nd degree burns.
 
you fluridians sure treat your canoes better than we keep our pirogues :tardbang:...fuck, i don't have a piroque anymore ;) do you know how long we had to drive before we saw a boat for the scavenger hunt? i couldn't believe. seems like you couldn't throw a brick without hitting a brick in louisiana. :shrug:
 
Sharky said:
Picture a plain, concrete block, tin-roofed shed the size of a one-car garage, and the "ooh" will fade from your lips . . . ;) :D
Click to expand...

still, that's pretty "ooooh" to me ;)
 
tonksy said:
you fluridians sure treat your canoes better than we keep our pirogues :tardbang:...fuck, i don't have a piroque anymore ;) do you know how long we had to drive before we saw a boat for the scavenger hunt? i couldn't believe. seems like you couldn't throw a brick without hitting a brick in louisiana. :shrug:
Click to expand...

Gosh, yes - there is a boat in every yard in Lousyana . . . in Flawda there are three in every yard . . . some kinda state law - you have to own a boat to live here.

:lloyd:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top