Smoke detectors were working at fatal Sunday fire

December 11, 2018 at 12:05a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

A fire on the city’s South Side that left five children dead Sunday evening wasn’t the result of faulty hardware or inadequate response times.

The victims’ home had smoke detectors that were working when firefighters arrived two minutes after the blaze was reported, according to the fire department.

Kristen Gallagher, the Lake to River chapter of the American Red Cross’s Disaster Program Specialist, said while the circumstances of Sunday’s fire were extremely unfortunate, homeowners can greatly improve their chances of surviving a fire by ensuring their smoke detectors are properly installed and maintained and by developing and practicing escape plans with at least one secondary route out of the house.

Gallagher said the American Red Cross will be available to assist the victim, America “Amy” Negron Acevedo, 26, once she has had time to recover from her injuries.

Under city law, owners of residential properties are required to install at least one smoke detector adjacent to the sleeping area in each premises. Also, at least one additional smoke detector is required to be installed in each additional story of a property including the basement, but not a crawl space or unfinished attic.

Gary Offerdahl, the Lake to River chapter’s volunteer smoke detector liaison, said while homeowners must check to ensure their smoke detectors have batteries, it is also important for them to ensure the sensors that allow the devices to detect smoke are working as well.

Dust build up, spider webs or general degradation can all cause sensors to no longer detect smoke and trigger the alarm. Offerdahl said smoke-detector sensors rarely last 10 years.

The Red Cross offers free installation of 10-year, closed-battery smoke detectors for anyone in need of a detector.

Karen Conklin, the executive director of the Lake to River chapter, said the Red Cross’s smoke-detector program is universal, so there are no minimum or maximum wage requirements to receive the smoke detectors. Volunteers also offer education to homeowners and families about fire safety and escape planning.

Local Red Cross volunteers have installed more than 5,000 smoke detectors since 2014.

Offerdahl said nearly half of the homes he and his team of volunteers visit have no smoke detectors installed when they arrive.

City council first approved an ordinance requiring smoke detectors in 1994. Council made updates to the law in 1995, 1999 and 2003.

The 2003 updates to the law require owners of residential structures used as rental properties to sign an affidavit that all smoke-detector requirements under law are met at the time of rental agreement. The law also requires the landlords to provide new batteries for battery-operated smoke detectors to tenants at least annually.

Every change of occupancy requires landlords to make sure smoke detectors are working properly.

The city doesn’t inspect the interiors of single-family rental houses, which would include having smoke detectors, unless it’s part of a court order such as a landlord-tenant dispute, said Michael Durkin, Youngstown’s superintendent of code enforcement and blight remediation.

The victims’ home, however, was a federal Section 8 property, and the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority had inspected it, Durkin said.

The fire department does internal inspections of commercial and multifamily housing developments, he said.

In Ohio, “there is nothing specific in the residential code that addresses landlord-tenant agreements on maintenance of smoke alarms” for properties built before either 2006 or 2007, said Kelly Whitaker, spokeswoman of the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Industrial Compliance. “It’s typically a local issue.”

While there is no evidence of a space heater at the victims’ home, they are not uncommon in house fires.

There is nothing in state law prohibiting the use of space heaters, said Brian Bohnert, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of State Fire Marshal. But the division recommends space heaters with automatic shutoffs if they tip over and to keep them at least 3 feet from anything that can catch on fire such as curtains, clothing and furniture, he said.

The city also doesn’t have any laws that restrict space heaters, Durkin said.

To request a smoke detector from the ARC’s Lake to River chapter, call 866-319-7160.