Council has been discussing aspects of our Minimum Housing Standards during the two most recent work sessions. One subject that was raised last night was the suggestion for additional smoke alarms.

The Blue Ribbon Panel that has been reviewing the city's Rental Inspection Program made the recommendation to have at least one smoke detector per floor and one per sleeping area. The recommendation is consistent with the International Fire Code.

There was lively debate on this subject last night with several expressing opinion that government is being too intrusive with such extensive requirements. My tact was to support the Panel's recommendation. I argued against generalizations that smoke detectors would be required in every room and against substituting personal opinion for professional analysis.

One television observer felt compelled to comment. Here is the e-mail he sent today:

 

From Fire Chief Danny Grammer:

 

Having watched the work session last evening, it appears there are some misconceptions about smoke detectors. Admittedly, I am biased on the subject, maybe because I have often seen the ramifications of not having them. My feelings are that the City should require all residences to be upgraded to the latest smoke detector codes, requiring smoke detectors in all bedrooms and living areas, and all being interconnected.

 

I offer this information to hopefully strengthen the Council’s position on smoke detectors.

 

Of the known causes of fires,

• Smoking is the number one cause of residential fire deaths (bed or sofa),
• Kitchens are the #1 place fires start and cause the most injuries,
• Bedrooms are the #2 place where fires start and they cause deaths,
• Only 10% of the time in fatal fires was a working smoke detector present,
• The most likely fire death victim is an elderly woman, second is elderly men.

There seemed to be debate about smoke detectors in bedrooms. The basic factor is a question of do homeowner sleep with their bedroom door open or closed. If a person sleeps with their door closed (most often) and a fire starts in their bedroom, with no smoke detector, that person will die. If there is only one smoke detector in the hallway the person will likely be dead before the smoke detector goes off. Also, in this scenario the other people in the house have had no warning about the fire.

 

Yet more importantly, it has been proven that all children up to the age of about 18-20 (and intoxicated people) will not hear a smoke detector. If a child is asleep in their bedroom, door shut, no smoke detector, fire starts, the parents are unaware of the fire…you know the outcome. Over the last twenty-five years, we have learned two things about residential fires. That is how devastatingly fast they increase and that fire doesn’t kill victims, the smoke does.

 

With the latest code revisions, which unfortunately come from empirical lessons, all bedrooms must now have smoke detectors, be interconnected, and be hard wired into the house’s power. Smoke detectors have had to be hard wired since the late 1970’s. In this situation, if a fire starts in any bedroom or anywhere in the house, all people are notified immediately. Since you have only 2 or 3 minutes to get out of a house fire, time is paramount.

 

Nothing will be decided immediately, this is an ongoing process. I'll try to post a notice when we proceed to public hearings in case residents want to offer opinion.

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