Smoke detector urban legend

(Semi True that smoke detectors should be replaced in 10 years but false story and facts.)


Last Sunday, two Bartlesville, Oklahoma citizens needlessly lost their life in a fire in their home. They had a smoke detector with a good battery in the home. Then, what was the problem?

The detector was 23 years old and no longer operable due to its age. What does age have to do with it, especially if the detector would "test” if the button was pushed?

Most smoke detectors use a very small amount of a radioactive isotope Americium 241 which has a half life of approximately 10 years.(the real Half life is from 150 years to 7,000 years) After 10 years the detector can no longer be depended upon to work properly and should be replaced.

The "test" button only checks to see if the battery has enough power to sound the alarm; it does not tell you if the unit is still functional. When the detector in question was purchased no warnings were provided with detectors to inform the public of this fact. Today, manufacturers even provide a sticker to place inside the detector that you can write the date of installation so when you change your batteries you can also determine if the detector is due for replacement.

I urge all of you to check your detectors tonight. If you can not determine or do not recall when you purchased them, please get them replaced immediately. The long of short of it is that they are very inexpensive life insurance policies.

Bob Hasbrook, Fire Chief
918-338-4090
FAX 918-338-4212
rvhasbro@cityofbartlesville.org

THE 10 YEAR LIFE EXPECTANCY IS SOMETHING I DID NOT KNOW.---BUT I WENT TO GOOGLE AND ITS TOTALLY CORRECT. PASS THIS ALONG TO YOUR FRIENDS.