Feb 7, 2008 5:29 pm US/Pacific
Call Kurtis Investigates: Smoke Alarms
"The Most Common Detector May Not Give You The Best Protection"
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
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Call Kurtis, CBS 13, KOVR, Kurtis Ming
3,000 people die each year in house fires. We've heard for years that smoke alarms save lives. A Call Kurtis Investigation has learned the smoke detector most of us have in our homes, may not give us the best protection in the deadliest of fires.
Mitch Ritchie of Valley Springs was just 6 years old, asleep in his bedroom when an electrical outlet shorted and ignited his bed. He has no idea how long the fire in his two story Lockeford apartment smoldered. The choking smoke filled his lungs and the smoke detector just outside his bedroom never sounded.
"I didn't know anything was going on, until I woke up in the hospital", said Ritchie who is now 23 years old.
The slow burning fire scorched his bed, a bookshelf, the wall and he suffered second and third degree burns to 70% of his body.
"I feel very lucky", said Ritchie.
Sheila Hackert wasn't so fortunate losing her daughter and husband in a house fire in 2001. She says, "I live with the image of my daughter screaming in a dark room. That night I lost half my family". Hackert says their smoke alarm also sat silent as smoke from a smoldering electrical fire filled their New York home. She thinks she knows why her alarm never sounded. They had an average smoke detector called an "ionization smoke alarm".
It's the same type of detector you and 90% of Americans have in their homes. They work best in fast moving fires where there are a lot of flames. The problem is those aren't the most common types of blazes.
"Most home fires are smoldering fires, said Assistant state Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover.
As in, slow smoking fires. Hoover says they're often caused from a cigarette, or an electrical short; much like what happened in the cases of the Hackert's and Mitch Ritchie. Statistically, these fires are the deadliest because smoke often kills before the flames can.
It's well known in the fire industry there is one type of alarm better at detecting these slow smoldering types of fires. It's called a photoelectric alarm. In some tests, it goes off several minutes before the ionization alarm.
"The studies are pretty consistent, your photoelectric detector will act quicker and more effectively than your ionization detector does", Hoover said.
We decided to see for ourselves. With the help of the Roseville Fire Department and it's training tower, we put the two types of detectors to the test. Fire Marshal Dennis Mathisen simulates a smoldering fire. The clock starts, and we could see smoke well before we saw flames. Exactly one minute in, with smoke filling the room, the photoelectric alarm went off. We had to wait 53 more seconds before the ionization alarm sounded. A time difference that could be the difference between life and death.
"We know in a fire situation, every second counts. 53 seconds is a substantial amount of time an occupant can use to safely evacuate a home" said Mathisen.
In a test conducted in Massachusetts simulating a smoldering couch fire, the photoelectric alarm sounded eight minutes in. Another nine minutes went by before the ionization alarm went off.
Assistant State Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover says California state code allows homes to have either photoelectric or ionization alarms. The question Kurtis Ming raised; if experts in the fire industry know one detector works better than the other in the most common fire, should state codes be strengthened to give us all the best chance of surviving?
"I would say it's a good thought. Actually it's a great thought. Let's take a look at statistics. Is it possible to call for legislation with dual alarms? I think it's very doable" said Hoover.
Mitch Ritchie says it seems like common sense. He wants California lawmakers to move quickly before anyone else is hurt or killed.
"It could be something that could happen to themselves, and the faster they do it, the more they'll be helping out" said Ritchie.
Ionization detectors cost as little as $5. Photoelectric detectors run about $15. You can get one with both technologies for $25.
If you want to know what type you have, it should state it right on your detector. Click on our "Know Your Smoke Alarm" slideshow to the right of the story. It's important to note, there's no doubt your chance of survival is better having any working detector in your home.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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