Tenants in charge of smoke detectors

Other changes involve a false fire alarm law and vehicles parked in fire lanes.
& lt;a href=mailto:rgsmith@vindy.com & gt;By ROGER SMITH & lt;/a & gt;
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city will hold tenants responsible for keeping their smoke detectors working starting Jan. 1.
That's a switch from regulations, which leave landlords with most of the responsibility.
Smoke-detector laws are among a few fire-department-related regulations or procedures that change come the first of the year, said Chief John J. O'Neill Jr.
The city also will start using new procedures and finally enforce its false fire alarm law, he said.
Lastly, fire inspectors will have the power to write tickets or tow vehicles that are illegally parked in fire lanes. Overburdened police must write such tickets now, he said.
Smoke-detector changes will affect many residents. The 2000 Census says 36 percent of the 32,177 housing units in the city are occupied by renters.
Approved by council
Council approved an amendment to city law last month saying renters must repair or replace smoke detectors if they damage or destroy them. Before, tenants could make the landlord legally responsible for any repair or replacement.
Another change says renters are responsible for replacing batteries in smoke detectors at least once a year -- or for batteries they remove themselves.
That is a major problem during the holidays, said Michelle Wells, president of the Mahoning Valley Real Estate Investors Association. The group represents landlords in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
Tenants remove smoke-detector batteries for use in new toys and never replace them, she said.
The new law puts responsibility where it belongs -- on tenants, she said. She hopes parents living in apartments will take the law seriously and to protect their children.
"The children in the city will be safer now," Wells said.
The new law says renters also must receive a copy of an affidavit that landlords already must sign that says smoke detectors are present when a tenant moves in.
Law about false fire alarms
Meanwhile, the city will start enforcing a false fire alarm law that council approved two years ago, O'Neill said.
The department hasn't enforced the law for two reasons, he said. The department didn't have the computer tracking needed to determine how many false alarms were generated at a particular address, he said. There also was no warning system for property owners to know when they would be fined, he said.
Now, firefighters will hand written warnings to property owners at a false alarm. The fire department will send warnings by certified mail if nobody is there.
"We want to give fair warning," O'Neill said.
Fire inspectors will cite property owners if they have more than two false alarms a month or more than five in the calendar year. Sanctions start at $25 and escalate with each subsequent offense.
Firefighters receive about 400 false alarm calls a year, O'Neill said.
"That is just tying up equipment and staff, and it's unsafe," he said.
O'Neill hopes to cut that number in half by enforcing the law. The new law should prompt property owners to make sure their fire alarm systems are properly maintained, he said.
& lt;a href=mailto:rgsmith@vindy.com & gt;rgsmith@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;