Council will decide whether to require hard-wired alarms

The proposed ordinance would take effect Jan. 1.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- City council will soon decide the fate of a controversial ordinance that would require installation of hard-wired smoke alarms on all floors of rental properties in the city.
The ordinance, introduced July 13 and given a second reading Sept. 14, is scheduled for a vote on final passage in council's regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The ordinance would bar occupancy of any dwelling unit in any rental property that does not have at least one operable hard-wired smoke alarm on each floor, including the basement, beginning Jan. 1, 2006.
A hard-wired smoke alarm is one that is directly wired to the building's electrical system. Typically, hard-wired smoke alarms also have battery backups so they'll work in case of a power failure.
The text of the ordinance says hard-wired smoke alarms are advantageous because, unlike battery-only smoke alarms, they aren't normally disabled by dead or missing batteries.
About a dozen landlords and rental property managers attended a Thursday meeting of council's police and fire committee, where the proposed ordinance was discussed.
Discussion details
"It would represent a tremendous cost for little or no benefit that we can see," said Robert Kruppa, president of the Trumbull County Real Estate Investors' Association, which represents area landlords and opposes the ordinance.
"Currently, all of the properties have smoke detectors on every floor. Most of them have battery-operated smoke detectors in every bedroom. It's been our experience that this has been more than adequate protection," Kruppa added.
Kruppa said it would cost $700 to $800 to have a hard-wired smoke alarm system installed in a two-story, three-bedroom home.
"In the last eight years, we've had 19 fire fatalities in this city. And the one thing common to all of these fire fatalities was the absence of working smoke detectors, whether the batteries were missing or dead," Fire Chief Ken Nussle told council members. All but two of those fire deaths were in rental properties, said the chief, who supports the proposed law.
The chances of hard-wired smoke detectors working are much greater than for smoke detectors that are strictly battery-operated, he added.
"When one smoke detector goes off in the house, they all go off in the house, thereby increasing your chances greatly to at least escape the fire" and survive where there is a hard-wired system, he explained.
Councilman Felipe Romain, a retired firefighter, said he is concerned about requiring a higher level of protection in rental properties than in owner-occupied homes.
But Susan Hartman, D-7th, committee chairwoman, said she doesn't think council can legally require owner-occupied homes to have hard-wired smoke alarms. But because rental properties are businesses that are regulated and inspected by the city, the city can require them to have the hard-wired smoke alarms, she said.
Christopher A. Taneyhill, the city's chief building official, who supports the ordinance, said all new homes are legally required to have hard-wired smoke alarms.