The desire to protect your family from danger is absolutely primal. It's hard-wired into us as humans, with roots that go back into pre-history.
Providing this protection can get complicated in a complex modern society. The threats to safety can come from so many different directions, from car accidents to defective products. But as homo sapiens - the species most capable of rational thought - we use our minds to design protections from all sorts of dangers.
One of these is the ancient danger of fire. Over 3,000 people are killed every year in the U.S. in residential fires. And the annual number of residential fires is over 300,000. That's why it's important to have smoke alarms in your house that work properly and can warn you against the dangers of smoke and fire, as well as the deadly gasses that fire can unleash.
Given their importance, it is truly terrible when smoke alarms fail to work properly due to product defects. If that happens, and someone in your family is injured or killed, talk with an attorney in your area about your legal right to pursue appropriate financial compensation.
How Smoke Alarms Work
Smoke alarms fall into two main categories, depending on the type of sensor used in the alarms. One sensor is called an ionization detector. It has a chamber containing two plates that produce electric currents. When smoke enters this chamber, the result is a disruption in the current - and this sets off the alarm. This type of alarm can quickly sense fast-moving fires, but has severe shortcomings in detecting slow-burning, smoldering fires.
The other type of sensor is a photoelectric detector. It works by using a beam of light and a light receptor or photocell. The appearance of smoke in between the light and the receptor signals the photocell sensor to set off the alarm.
Either of these smoke alarms can also be used with heat detectors to warn of a fire. There are also smoke alarms that combine both ionization and photoelectric capabilities in one unit. These are known as dual sensor smoke alarms.
Just as there are different types of smoke alarms, there are different ways of powering the alarms. One way is to connect smoke alarms directly to a home's wiring system. They can also run on battery power. Some types of smoke alarms can do both.
Installation and Possible Defects
The type of alarm you have may depend on the type of home you have. Older homes tend to have battery-only alarms. Newer houses often have smoke alarms connected directly (hardwired) to the electrical wiring, with battery back-up.
No matter which type of smoke detector you have, it must be installed properly. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that there be at least one alarm on each level of a home. Batteries should be replaced annually and smoke alarms should be replaced at least every ten years.
If you chose an effective smoke alarm system and installed it properly, it should work. If it doesn't, due to a product defect, you and your family may have suddenly had your lives put at risk. Even if you escape a fatal fire, you may be at risk for burn injuries, smoke inhalation, and other damage.
Fatal Fire in Rotterdam, New York
One terrible smoke alarm failure occurred on May 31, 2001, in Rotterdam, New York. Two members of the Hackert family died in a residential fire that started when an extension cord overheated. The family had two smoke detectors made by First Alert and BRK Brands Inc., but those detectors failed to go off. The smoke detectors that failed were ionization detectors, and they were insufficient to alert the family to the smoldering fire.
The Hackert family brought a wrongful death lawsuit against First Alert. At trial in 2006, the plaintiffs presented evidence that the company continued to market the ionization-only detector instead of dual detectors, despite knowing of the safety shortcomings of the ionization-only detectors.
If the Hackerts had been sold a dual sensor smoke alarm, they could have been warned of the fire 15 minutes sooner. And that might have saved two lives.
The Hackerts were not alone. The evidence showed that at least 750 consumers had complained about the failure of the ionization detectors to warn of smoke or fire dangers.
Attorneys for the Hackerts were able to show that it was unconscionable to continue to market an inferior product (ionization-only detectors) when a product with superior safety (dual detectors) was available. The jury awarded the bereaved family $7 million dollars.
Defective Smoke Alarm Recalls
Five years after the Rotterdam fatalities, smoke alarm failures are still all too common. One indicator of this is product recalls. For example, in 2008, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a voluntary recall for carbon monoxide and carbon monoxide/smoke alarms made by the Maple Chase Company in Ohio.
The devices malfunctioned by emitting a "double chirp" sound when sensing carbon dioxide. The owners' manual instructed consumers to remove the alarms when hearing such a chirp - even though the carbon dioxide level posed a safety threat. The detectors should have been giving off a piercing warning, not an unwarranted chirp
The following year, the CPSC issued another voluntary recall. This time, it was for dual sensor smoke alarms made by the Walter Kidde Portable Equipment company. The agency found that the alarms could be damaged by electrostatic discharges, causing them to fail to warn of fires.
Your Specific Case
If you have been injured in a fire that involved a defective smoke alarm, or a loved one died in such a fire, contact an experienced personal injury attorney in your area. A lawyer can discuss the circumstances of your case and explain your legal rights.
