Today, a smoke alarm is a need in every household as an accident may cause damages and spread in the neighborhood in Gulfport or basically everywhere. There are different types of smoke detectors in the market, and they come with many promises.
You may not know that all smoke detectors cannot detect the more deadly type of fire, i.e., smoldering fires, which are typically home fires. These kinds of fires burn slow and fill the home with smoke and cause suffocation. Smoldering fires are a cause of residential accidents when the inhabitants of the houses are asleep. If you are a victim of such an accident caused due to faulty smoke detectors, after managing the situation at your place, you should talk to a Gulfport personal injury attorney to make claims from the manufacturer.
We shall discuss the essential facts about smoke detectors to help you purchase right and also make you aware of legal options if you fall victim to a faulty smoke sensor. Read on!
Types of smoke detectors
Smoke detectors are of two types:
- Ionization smoke detectors
- Photoelectric smoke detectors
Though both types are sold in the market as “smoke alarms” and “smoke detectors,”; the ionization smoke detecting sensors cannot detect smoldering fires. Unfortunately, in most houses, you will find ionization smoke sensors that make the homes risk-prone.
Things to know about smoke detectors
- Every year, more than thousands of people get injured or die due to smoldering fire.
- Ionization Smoke Detectors, made by a few good brands, are designed to detect fire that produces less smoke. Ionization technology cannot detect fast or don’t recognize at all any kind of smoky fires that cause residential damages. They are the most common home detectors for smoke, in any case. As a result, the smoke level at home may reach a fatal high.
- Photoelectric Smoke Detectors can respond to slow-burning fires and also flash fires which the ionization detectors can detect. They cost a little different, but the technology has been existing for a few decades.
- Several accident cases are yet pending faulty ionization smoke detectors caused that.
- Today, many sellers sell ionization smoke detectors naming them smoke detectors or alarms, though they are aware of the fatal risks behind this practice.
- Experts suggest that homeowners should be using both kinds of detectors: ionization (if already existing) and photoelectric smoke detectors so that if any home smoke is missed by the former, the advanced type of smoke alarm can respond and make the occupants aware of it.
- Another concern is that a few ionization detectors run on battery, and with battery failure, having one such sensor will make no sense.
- The US National Bureau of Standards has run a few tests and found that the advanced photoelectric smoke detectors offer safety and twice or thrice times better than any ionizing type of smoke detector.
Final thoughts
There have been some recent home fire tragedies due to failure of smoke detection by equipment which caused a furor, and people became anxious about safety. Considering these tragedies, we recommend that people be cautious and buy equipment for smoke detection with utmost care. In case you become a victim of a faulty smoke recognition tool, you should hire a personal injury attorney to make your injury claims.
