FIRE EXPERTS HOPE TO TEACH CITY TO AVOID FAULTY SMOKE DETECTORS

One night in the late 1960s, eggs were left boiling overnight in John Sachen's kitchen. After the smoke cleared the next day, he went out and bought one of the earliest smoke detectors made.

"At that time it cost about $125 retail," said Sachen, a Missouri state fire instructor and training officer for the Delta fire district. "But I had four daughters, so I thought it was worth it."

Nowadays, most homeowners tend to agree. About 94 percent of homes have a smoke detector installed, the National Fire Protection Association says. Lower costs and more municipal code requirements have accounted for the increase, said Ray Warner, fire inspector for the Cape Girardeau Fire Department.

A bigger cost is witnessed when homeowners either fail to install or maintain smoke detectors. The 6 percent of homes without the devices have accounted for 38 percent of residential fires and 51 percent of fire deaths, the National Fire Protection Association says.

Owners of certain smoke alarms should be more careful now, Warner said. Four brands of alarms manufactured by Universal Security Instruments, Inc., were part of a recall announced by their maker this week. Owners of these brands may call the company at 1-800-390-4321 to received a replacement alarm.

Recalls happen from time to time, but as long as batteries are changed twice a year, fewer problems occur, Warner said.

Almost no one in Cape Girardeau has an excuse not to have a smoke alarm, Warner said.

Most battery-operated brands cost under $10. For low income families, the fire department provides smoke alarms and batteries at no cost.

"I've got about 400 nine-volt batteries in a closet just waiting," he said.

The alarms and batteries are made available to the fire department as donations.

Although free smoke alarms are not available to apartment residents, Warner encourages those who don't have alarms to talk with their landlords. If landlords don't cooperate, Warner said call him.

"The city maintenance code says the landlord is responsible," he said. "But the code is sometimes hard to enforce. We can't be everywhere. The only way we know if it's being broken sometimes is if someone calls."

In Cape Girardeau homes constructed since 1993, builders are required to install hard wired smoke alarms that have a battery backup, Warner said.

The advantage of having several smoke alarms working from a home's electrical current is that they all respond when one detects smoke.

"So if you have a three-story house and one goes off in the basement, they all go off," Warner said.

Battery-powered versions only react to smoke in the area.

Despite the $30 cost of electrically powered alarms, many homeowners would forgo the safety measure if it weren't part of municipal code, Warner said.

In the county, no codes exist, Sachen said. But many homeowners will still recognize the need for smoke alarms, especially when assistance from neighbors or firefighters is more distant.

Most businesses are not bound by municipal codes, although federal safety standards may come into play with larger facilities, Sachen said.

The most advanced smoke alarms used commonly by businesses have smart features that will adjust to changing environmental conditions, he said. These smart detectors, which cost about $60, will adjust themselves so that dust, age or other conditions that influence battery-operated models don't affect them.

Smoke detection has developed in various directions since being introduced to consumers in the 1960s. A nearly $2,000 system can be installed that draws smoke out of a residence using a vacuum fan and existing central air ducts. A smoke detecting Christmas tree ornament is also available for about $15.

Too many underestimate the danger of smoke compared to fire, Warner said.

"Gases that are produced from fires put people into a deeper sleep, and sometimes they don't wake up," he said.

If the ideal of placing a smoke detector in every room of the house is not possible, Warner said alarms should be in a central location, close to the sleeping area.

Although smoke detectors operate with a trace amount of radioactive material included, Sachen said the trade off for fire safety is worthwhile.

"Everyday that you drive to work, you take your chances with these other masses of metal moving down the road at high speeds because you see the benefits that going to work bring," Sachen said. "I'd rather have a smoke alarm than not."