At least three fire and rescue services have reported a significant rise in homeowners complaining about 10-year smoke alarms with sealed batteries ‘beeping’ – as if they were low on battery power -only a few years after their installation.
Most of the reported problems are with smoke alarms manufactured by BRK Dicon and fitted as part of free home fire safety visits. Regions with known problems include Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside.
According Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue, around 200 people a month have been contacting them about the alarms, which were fitted between 2005 and 2008. But a spokesman for the fire service said that although this was a higher figure than normal, it was still a very small percentage of all the alarms fitted.
“While we fit 10-year smoke alarms, this is on the basis that the alarm will operate for 10 years and is not a 10-year battery life guarantee. If an alarm goes off every day because of burning toast, for example, this will run down the battery faster.”
He added: “They key issue is raising awareness about the importance of smoke alarm maintenance. Unfortunately, this is often not a priority of homeowners, especially ones that have not gone out to but their own alarms but have had them fitted on free home visits.”
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service have changed suppliers of smoke alarms recently, but say this decision was not directly as a result of the increased faults being reported.
Safety worries
The Fire Brigades Union is concerned that lives are potentially being put at risk by people trying to disable smoke alarms that are beeping intermittently. "It is of major concern that fire services have been fitting smoke alarms with problems that may lead people to remove the batteries," Matt Wrack, the union’s general secretary, told the Observer newspaper last Sunday. "That clearly puts lives at risk."
All three fire and rescue services are in talks with BRK Dicon about the problem.
BRK Dicon told Info4Fire.com that it was investigating samples returned by the fire and rescue services concerned, and that if any issues arose it will share them with the industry. The company added that maintenance such as six monthly cleaning of the heads with a vacuum cleaner, and being aware of the effect of high nicotine contamination, were key to trouble-free operation.
“As noted by all three fire services, we are working very closely with them to investigate and resolve any issues that they believe they may have with our products,” said a company spokesman. “As one of the largest manufacturers in the world, we treat any such matters with the utmost care, diligence and attention.
“ ‘Beeping’ may indicate a depleted battery warning or, in some alarms, contamination of the sensing chamber. It is important to emphasise…that the alarms are designed to continue functioning i.e. detect fires, during any such warning.
“Should a user have a “beeping” alarm or any concerns relating to their alarm, they should contact their local fire service immediately. They will be able to provide advice and, if appropriate, a replacement smoke alarm. In no circumstances should the user disable or remove their smoke alarm.”
Manchester Evening News report
