Firex 480, 484, and 4480 smoke detectors

The Firex 480, 484, and 4480 are photoelectric smoke detectors. These units have an 85 decibel horn, test switch, and lighted power/alarm LED indicators.
The 4480 and 484 AC smoke alarms can be interconnected with Firex ionization as well as photoelectric smoke alarms for the best smoke detection system.

• 4480 120V AC Direct Wire with Battery Back-up for single or multiple station use. The 4480 is interconnectable up to 12 Firex AC/DC smoke alarms and 6 Firex heat alarms for a total of not more than 18 Firex devices.This unit has two separate lighted LEDS — green ”poweron” LED confirms constant AC power and the red LED displays alarm/battery status.
• 484 120V AC Direct Wire for single or multiple station use. The 484 is interconnectable up to 12 Firex AC smoke alarms. A green lighted LED ”blinks”once per minute to confirm constant AC power and once per second when in alarm.
• 480 9V DC Battery Powered with a green lighted LED that “blinks” once per minute to confirm DC power and once per second in alarm.

Includes a 30 day low battery indicator and tamper resistant locking device. These Firex smoke detectors should be placed in single-family households or in each individual living unit of multiple-family buildings. All smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years.

Firex photoelectric smoke alarms respond to slow burning, visible smoke caused by smoldering fires. Designed for use in kitchens and furnace rooms, they reduce nuisance alarms caused by cooking fumes or high humidity. With installer focused innovations such as gasketless mounting, separate mounting bracket as well as state-of-the-art production testing equipment, Firex photoelectric smoke alarms have earned their reputation as the most preferred smoke alarms among contractors.

Smoke detector advice from Fire Marshal

Smoke detectors don't need to cost an arm and leg to be effective, according to Jasper Marshal Stephen Williamson.

"The old saying 'you get what you pay for' just isn't a good slogan when shopping for smoke detectors. A basic smoke detector can be purchased for under $5. Every house needs a smoke detector, and it is preferable to have one in each sleeping area," Williamson said.

Williamson said many companies claim their product is superior, but regardless of "lifetime" claims, the National Fire Protection Association recommends that smoke detectors be replaced or serviced every 10 years, and batteries replaced once a year.s

"After collecting dust for 10 years, the sensitivity of any brand detector is reduced and needs to be replaced or serviced, regardless of what they are made out of," Williamson said.

Beyond the basics, consumers can choose many upgrades, including alarms with different tones, buzzers or voice announcements, or with lights that turn on to help light the way out. Some detectors can be linked, so that if one detects a fire, all the detectors sound an alarm.

Some people go the extra step to incorporate smoke alarms with monitored security systems that will dispatch emergency responders if the alarm goes off.

"If you are considering have a fire/security system installed in your home or business, the first step is to check out the alarm company," Williamson said. "In Texas, all alarm companies and personnel who install alarms must be licensed by the Texas Department of Insurance."

Williamson said anyone can stop by city hall or call 384-4651 to see if a company or installer is licensed.
http://www.jaspernewsboy.com/news/2007/0516/News/030.html

Law firm donates smoke detectors

Have smoke alarms in your home?

There’s no reason not to.

The Seguin Fire Department has partnered with a San Antonio law firm to try to make sure every home in this city is protected by a smoke detector.

The law firm, Wayne Wright Lawyers, which has offices in San Antonio, Houston, Austin and Corpus Christi, has made a commitment to Seguin to provide smoke detectors for residents. The initiative was announced Thursday afternoon at a press conference conducted at Fire Station 2 on State Highway 46. It was attended by Mayor Betty Ann Matthies, Fire Chief Scott Mycue, Assistant City Manager Ricardo Cortes and attorney Wyatt Wright of Wayne Wright Lawyers.

In thanking the attorney, Mycue said his department has tried several times without success to obtain grant money to provide smoke and fire alarms for local residents.

“We’ve never had the opportunity to provide our citizens with free smoke alarms,” Mycue said. “This is a much-needed program for our community, and we’re very excited about this new partnership with Wayne Wright Lawyers.”

Mycue said he did not know how many Seguin homes lacked smoke detectors.

But Wayne Wright Lawyers, he said, has committed to begin with 1,000 and “go from there.”

Firefighters will install them on Saturdays, he said, because that is when they would expect homeowners to be present for the work.

“We’ll try to get to as many of them as we can on Saturdays and still do our regular job,” Mycue said.

Attorney Wyatt Wright said the law firm headed by his father began the initiative, called “Smoke Alarms in Every Home,” in San Antonio in December after the death of State Senator Frank Madla and two of his family members in a fire.

“It’s not that Senator Madla’s death was any more important than any of the other 890 people who died last year in fires,” Wright said. “But what it did do was get the subject off page 20 and onto page one.”

So far, Wright said, his law firm has provided 60,000 smoke detectors in 21 cities. He didn’t know what the initiative has cost.

“We haven’t reduced this to a budget,” Wright said. “The cost doesn’t really matter. We do it as long as we can. For us, it’s a natural. It might not work in all cases, but this simple, inexpensive device can prevent loss of life. We want to give them to everyone who needs them.”

All anyone who needs a smoke detector needs do is call his firm at (210) 734-7077, and their name and address will be forwarded to the SFD, which will make contact and go out and install the detectors, which also act as fire alarms.

A smoke detector, Wright said, doubles the chance of survival in a residential fire. The good thing about having the Seguin Fire Department involved in the project, he said, was that firemen understood how to install the devices correctly.

“We don’t want them to end up on shelves in garages,” Wright said. “The firemen will install them. When they come out, they might give you other suggestions such as, ‘you have 14 cords plugged into that outlet and it’s not a good idea.’ The real heroes of this program will be the Seguin firefighters who will go out and do this.”

Like Mycue, Matthies thanked Wright for his work on behalf of Seguin residents.

“I know I speak for all the citizens of Seguin in saying thank you,” Matthies said. “It’s a very innovative program, and a very generous one, and I know it will be a very, very important part of saving lives.”

Mycue agreed.

“We’re very proud of our partnership with Wayne Wright Lawyers,” Mycue said. “Citizen safety is our utmost concern and this is a big step in the right direction.”
http://seguingazette.com/story.lasso?ewcd=16440f48acc22f87

Smoke Alarm Promises To Get Kids Out Of Harm's Way

Most homes are outfitted with smoke alarms and many parents have taught their kids how to get out in case of fire.

But what happens when the alarm doesn’t wake the child?

By the time people reach adulthood, most have come to the rude awakening that their sleep is going to be routinely interrupted.

Adults trained to jump when things go bump in the night.

"Adults are the ones who have to get out of bed and go charging out if they hear a noise in the middle of the night," said Dr. William Glomb, a pediatric sleep doctor with Children’s Hospital of Austin.

But for children, it's a whole different story. They slumber carefree, often oblivious to noises around them, even when those noises could save their little lives.

But one product promises to be much more effective at getting them out of bed and out of harm's way.

Callie, 5, is the daughter of Austin firefighter Carmen McGuire. Because of what her mother does for a living, Callie has been drilled on how to get out of a burning house. But Callie would still have to wake up before she could put that training to good use.

CBS 42 set off her bedroom’s smoke detector to see if she would wake up. After it sounded for almost a minute and a half, she didn’t.

"The alarm is definitely loud enough to wake everyone up,” McGuire said. “But Callie laid there and didn't move a muscle. It really bothers me."

The latest national statistics say that 82 percent of kids who died in fires were asleep when they succumbed.

Dr. William Glomb, the director of Austin's only pediatric sleep lab at Children’s Hospital of Austin, says the period of the night when people are sleeping dreamlessly is to blame.

"We are very close to general anesthesia each night when we spend time in this sleep,” Glomb said. “There are a lot of quotes about how dreamless sleep is close to death."

Again, as adults, we've been conditioned to awaken even from this dead sleep. But kids have not.

In an eight hour night, children spend an average of two hours in the deep sleep.

If the alarm goes off during that quarter of the night, "they might not arouse," Glomb said.

A recent independent study confirms what appears to be an alarming trend. Only 58 percent of kids in the study awoke to a conventional smoke detector tone. The others needed something more, like a mother’s voice.

The Signal One voice alarm allows parents to record personal commands to be combined with a high pitch chirp of the alarm.

The company's publicity tape makes it seem like a surefire way to save kids should fire break out. But could anything arouse Callie from her slumber?

CBS 42 tried it the new alarm.

Callie, who slept through nearly 90 seconds of the conventional alarm, popped her eyes open after just four seconds of the voice version. Stubbornly, she tried to fall asleep again, but as the recording repeated over and over, she couldn't resist. Fifty seconds after it began, Callie was not only up, she was sitting up.

"She actually heard it and that really makes me happy," McGuire said.

This isn't the only success story. In the study that showed only 58 percent of kids responding to the tone-only smoke alarms, the response rated jumped to 96 percent with the addition of a parent's recorded voice.

Glomb calls that truly eye-opening. The doctor says he would like to see other, larger studies done to confirm the results of that one.

CBS 42 wants to make it clear that in no way are we endorsing the voice smoke alarm. But, if you are interested, CBS 42 couldn't find it at any Austin area stores. We had to go online to buy it for about $35.

http://keyetv.com/topstories/local_story_129214755.html

Smoke Detector Ordinance

In one Schuylkill County community if you don't have a smoke detectors in your home or apartment you're breaking the law.

Alan Miller lives near Tamaqua and knows what fire can do and the importance of smoke detectors.

"I had a house in New York that burned down on me once and it scared me," Miller said, adding he didn't have smoke detectors in the home. Luckily no one was home and no one got hurt.

Rush Township has just passed a law that mandates every home and apartment have a working smoke detector.

"We're not going to be going in knocking on doors trying to see if everyone has one but if there is a fire at someone's house and the firemen are in there and notice there is no smoke detector, there are ways to enforce it," said township supervisor Steve Simchak.

The fine for not having a smoke detector is $300.

"That's a little steep but every family has their own way of taking care of themselves," said Dorothy Blasko.

"I think that's a fair idea. If there is no smoke detector definitely. Why take a chance at losing a life?" said Tina McAloose.

The fire chief is serious about smoke detectors. He said if someone dies in a fire and there was no smoke detector present the person responsible could be charged criminally.

http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=6472219&nav=5ka4

Family Escapes Fire Thanks To Smoke Alarm

Investigators are still trying to determine what started a fire at a home in east Charlotte early Wednesday.They believe the blaze started accidentally in a storage room in the house on Brighton Brook Drive just before 5 a.m.Fortunately the family had a working smoke detector.“The fire originated in the rear part of the house, and thanks to having the father awakened is the reason the family of seven was able to escape,” said Capt. Rob Brisley of the Charlotte Fire DepartmentTan Bo said he heard the smoke alarm and woke his family up, making sure they could all get out safely.With everyone out alive, firefighters could focus on knocking the flames down. They worked swiftly, saving most of the house. Fire investigators estimate the damage at somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000.The Tan family is now left to pick up the pieces and wonder what might have been if their smoke alarm had not sounded when it did.
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/13283105/detail.html