Task Force: Working Smoke Detectors Will Save Lives

A task force appointed by the State Fire Marshal found there was inconclusive evidence to endorse a specific kind of smoke detector.

The task force concluded the only way to save lives during a fire was to implore more Ohioans to install working smoke detectors and have designated escape routes.

The Ohio Department of Commerce said 90 percent of fire deaths in Ohio happen in homes without smoke detectors or working smoke detectors.

The Ohio Association of Fire Officials met for their regularly scheduled meeting Thursday.

Dean Dennis, who lost his daughter Andrea 9 ½ years ago in a fire near the Ohio State University campus, spoke to those in attendance. Four other college students died in the same fire.

Dennis said that the ionization detectors in the house took too long to detect the fire.

“Photoelectric smoke detectors can detect smoke up to a half hour, sometimes an hour, before an ionization detector,” Dennis said. “If you’re asleep at night, and you have a smoldering fire, which is the leading cause of fire deaths, you’re going to need a photoelectric smoke detector.”

Lyn Tolan, a spokesperson for The Ohio Department of Commerce, said the fire marshal continually looks for recommendations to save lives when a fire sparks.

You can read more about the task force’s recommendations at: WWW.COM.OHIO.GOV/FIRE/DOCS/FIRE_SAATF_FINAL_REPORT.PDF