"Citizens must upgrade their smoke alarms to make sure their homes are.. equipped with photoelectric smoke alarms. Using better smoke alarms..
will drastically reduce the loss of life among fire fighters and citizens."

Harold Schaitberger, General President, International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF)

Fire Prevention Week Focuses on Smoke Alarms,  Oct 2010  |  Washington D.C., U.S.A.

Harold Schaitberger, General President, International Association of Fire Fighters

Harold Schaitberger
General President, IAFF

International Association of Fire Fighters
Official Position on Smoke Alarms

The international Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is the largest fire fighter union in the world with over 300,000 members across the U.S. and Canada.

 

In 2008 the IAFF became the largest organization in the world to formally endorse/advocate the use of photoelectric smoke alarms.

 

However, what has set the IAFF apart from other organizations is their stand on ionization and combination ionization/photoelectric alarms, i.e. they do not recommend them.

 

This page documents the IAFF's ongoing commitment to fire fighter and public safety by educating fire fighters and fire officials about the defects with ionization alarms and the urgent need to replace with them with photoelectric alarms.

October 2010

Fire Prevention Week Focuses on Smoke Alarms

 

October 4, 2010 –President Barack Obama has proclaimed October 3 – 9, 2010 as Fire Prevention Week. Many IAFF affiliates across the United States will be conducting fire safety education campaigns utilizing the theme for this year’s event “Smoke Alarms: A Sound You can Live With!”

 

Smoke alarms can and do mean the difference between life and death in a fire. But only if they are present, in working order and equally important, only if the correct alarm is installed.

 

“Citizens must upgrade their smoke alarms to make sure their homes are equipped with photoelectric smoke alarms,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger said. “Using better smoke alarms will drastically reduce the loss of life among fire fighters and citizens because it will mean fires will be found earlier, resulting in earlier response.”

"Smoke alarms can and do mean the difference between life and death in a fire. But only if they are present, in working order and equally important, only if the correct alarm is installed."

Harold Schaitberger, General President, IAFF  |  4 Oct 2010

It is the position of the IAFF that federal, state and provincial officials should require that all relevant building standards and codes developed in the United States and Canada include a mandate for the use of photoelectric smoke alarms. Research has clearly demonstrated that photoelectric smoke alarms are more effective at warning people of smoke from smoldering fires than ionization smoke alarms.

 

Fires that occur at night when everyone is asleep, resulting in a delayed discovery of a fire, tend to be smoldering fires – many caused by smoking materials. Smoldering fires are the leading cause of fire fatalities and photoelectric alarms detect these fires. With earlier warning, people have more time to escape a burning structure and enable a quicker call to the fire department.

 

Photoelectric smoke alarms contain a light source and a light-sensitive electric cell. Smoke entering the alarm deflects light onto the light-sensitive electric cell, triggering the alarm. These alarms are more sensitive to large particles given off during smoldering fires – the kind of fires that occur at night when people are asleep. They are also more sensitive to smoke involving the burning of plastic materials as well as to smoke that has drifted to other areas from the point of the fire origin.

“Citizens must upgrade their smoke alarms to make sure their homes are equipped with photoelectric smoke alarms . . . Using better smoke alarms will drastically reduce the loss of life among fire fighters and citizens because it will mean fires will be found earlier, resulting in earlier response.”

Harold Schaitberger, General President, IAFF  |  4 Oct 2010

Ionization smoke alarms have a small amount of radioactive material, and establish a small electric current between two metal plates, which sound an alarm when disrupted by smoke entering the chamber. These alarms are more sensitive to presence of extremely small particles of smoke that are typical of flaming fires. But the technology leads to a delayed warning for the smoldering fire. That can lead to greater loss of life among people in a burning structure and fire fighters, who are faced with a more developed fire. A delayed warning during a smoldering fire, especially at night, can incapacitate people who are sleeping and lead to death as fire spreads.

 

No home should be without a smoke alarm, and ionization alarms should continue to be used until a home can be equipped with those having photoelectric alarms.

 

Useful safety tips include:

• Install photoelectric or dual photoelectric/ionization smoke alarms.

• Test smoke alarms at least once a month using the test button, and make sure everyone in your home knows their

   sound.

• If an alarm “chirps,” warning the battery is low, replace the battery right away.

• Replace all smoke alarms, including alarms that use 10-year batteries and hard-wired alarms, when they’re 10 years

  old (or sooner) if they do not respond properly when tested.

• Never remove or disable a smoke alarm.

Extracted from the Internet 15 June 2015

www.iaff.org/10News/100410FirePreventionWk.htm

November 2012

PDF Extracted from the Internet 15 June 2015

www.iaff.org/Comm/PDFs/DaylightSavingsTime2012.pdf

Download

.06 Megs

March 2013

The International Association of Fire Fighters is urging people to change more than just the batteries in their smoke detectors when Daylight Savings Time begins March 10. They should also upgrade their smoke detectors to make sure their homes are equipped with photoelectric smoke detectors, IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger said.

 

“More than 3,000 people die each year in the U.S. and Canada in structure fires, and we need to do everything we can to reduce that number. Using better smoke detectors will drastically reduce the loss of life among fire fighters and citizens because it will mean earlier detection of fires and result in faster response by emergency crews,” Schaitberger said.

 

It is the position of the IAFF that federal, state and provincial officials should require that all relevant building standards and codes developed in the U.S. and Canada include a mandate for the use of photoelectric smoke detectors. Research has demonstrated that photoelectric smoke detectors are more effective at warning people of smoke from smoldering fires than ionization smoke detectors. With earlier warning, people have more time to escape a burning structure and enable a quicker call to 911. Photoelectric smoke detectors are less susceptible to nuisance alarms. To prevent nuisance alarms, citizens often disable smoke detectors and place themselves, other residents in a home or building and fire fighters at greater risk.

 

Photoelectric smoke detectors contain a light source and a light-sensitive electric cell. Smoke entering the detector deflects light onto the light-sensitive electric cell, triggering the alarm. These detectors are more sensitive to large particles given off during smoldering fires – the kind of fires that occur at night when people are asleep.

 

Ionization smoke detectors have a small amount of radioactive material and establish a small electric current between two metal plates, which sound an alarm when disrupted by smoke entering the chamber. But the technology leads to a delayed warning. That can lead to greater loss of life among people in a burning structure and fire fighters, who are faced with a more developed fire. A delayed warning during a smoldering fire, especially at night, can incapacitate people who are sleeping and lead to death as fire spreads. No home should be without a smoke detector, and ionization detectors should continue to be used until a home can be equipped with photoelectric detectors.

BEGIN DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME - CHANGE
YOUR BATTERIES AND SMOKE DETECTORS

More Information:

www.TheWFSF.org/iaff

 

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