- Author
- Smith, L. E.
- Title
- Fire Incident Study National Smoke Detector Project.
- Coporate
- Consumer Product Safety Commission, Bethesda, MD
- Keywords
- smoke detectors | failure | residential buildings | surveys | methodology | fire losses | fire statistics | housing | legislation | occupants
- Identifiers
- population of detectors and type of housing; detectors that should have alarmed; comparison of detectors found with and without a connected power source; possible malfunctions
- Abstract
- The Consumer Product Safety Commission conducted the Fire Incident Study to identify why smoke detectors fail to alarm in residential fires. Data were collected from 263 fires in 15 U.S. cities between April 1992 and February 1993. Fourteen deaths, 33 injuries, and $2.7 million in property loss occurred in these fires. The study results indicated that about 60 percent of the detectors failed to alarm because they were disconnected from their power sources. Among those that were disconnected because occupants experienced problems with them, the reasons most often cited by occupants were that it "alarms too often" or that there were unwanted alarms related to cooking activities. Detectors that did not operate correctly after power was restored were collected for evaluation at the CPSC laboratory. In addition, some detectors that were connected but still failed to alarm in the fire were collected for laboratory testing. Laboratory tests found detectors with horns that did not operate, faulty wiring connections, excessive dirt or insects inside the detectors, and corroded or disconnected components. The results of this study confirm the findins of a companion CPSC survey of smoke detectors in households without fires. In that survey, 60 percent of detectors that did not alarm to testing were found disconnected. Both studies found that most detectors were disconnected for reasons other than problems with the detector itself. These studies indicate that in order to reduce deaths and injuries from residential fires, the number of working smoke detectors must be increased.