Time to test those smoke detectors!

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

It’s coming up on the 1 year anniversary of the fire at our house and I thought I’d take this opportunity to remind everyone to check those smoke detectors and make sure they’re working properly. During the holidays our houses are full of loved ones. Protect them! We string up electric lights and run appliances more then usual. Sometimes they fail. A new 9V battery is nothing comared to a life. Don’t let a buck or two stand in the way of your safety.

Our fire started because of a can opener that was plugged in. The trasformer overheated and melted the plastic casing and started a fire. We woke to our kitchen in flames at 2AM.

In talking with the fireman I learned that most house fires are started by small appliances, most often a coffee maker. People leave them plugged in overnight and things happen. Computers and monitors left plugged in were another cause.

Please take a moment and check your smoke detectors.

Also, please don’t leave appliances (or model train tranformers for that matter) plugged in overnight. Plug the coffee maker in when you get up and unplug it when you’re done. Do the same for the toaster and the can opener too.

And have a SAFE holiday season, OK?

2

Bunn coffee maker is now having a recall on some of their units due to this very thing.

http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml05/05189.html

We sent ours back for the free modification to correct the problem. Hopefully it does.

On a side note, from the title of your thread, I thought you had installed some smoke units in your locomotives and was about to fire them up… [:D]

JaRRell

3

Cute! While I do model steam power, N scale isn’t real conducive to smoke units!

4

Great post Phillip!

I just brought some other safety stuff over from another forum and added a note on testing alarms before finding this. Hope you got the mess cleaned up!

May I add…

On discovering a fire…

GET OUT

STAY OUT

CALL 911

5

Did you guys read on the “am I the only woman here” thread ,that a smoke alarm was set off when the roof leaked and water ran inon the alarm? Just thought you might be interested.

6

We discovered it when it was just getting going and I was able to get it out with an extinguisher and my back to the door. We lost one corner of our kitchen (and a lot of sleep), but that was all. God was certainly watching out for us that night. I would have to agree with you though,…if I’d have thought about it I’d have booked!

7

In addition, change you batteries in your smoke detectors frequently–a good idea to do it twice a year at the daylight savings time changes when you change your clocks.

Jim

8

I couldn’t agree more. Fire safety is quite possibly the most important thing to practice around the house. After we lost TWO toaster ovens, my dad’s Porsche 944( although that was a ruptured fuel line on the shoulder of the highway), I learned “hey, fires are caused by carelessness”…

Dave

9

Good words Dave, but remember that they can happen through things that are out of your control too, like poor design of products.

10

Hi:

I just found out something recently about ionization smoke detectors. The live expectancy is about 10 years and after that date they may test “OK” but their sensitivity starts to detiriorate. How old is/are your smoke detectors?

Jerry

11

Good point Jerry!

BUT… anyone who has other than all-electric… PLEASE DON’T FORGET the carbon monoxide detector(s)…

You haven’t got one?

An hour or so’s trip to Wallyworld or wherever could save you a lifetime of regret…

…and you don’t have to spend a load of time fixing the thing just right… it helps but mine has worked very well placed carefully on an appropriate shelf and kept free of encroaching stuff.

…guess I should get round to fixing it now…

Putting a fire out yourself is okay… sort of… but the best practice is to get everyone out and the fire service rolling before you look at it.

Back to the door is also okay… sort of… but what you must be totally aware of is the risk of smoke rolling up to the ceiling, along the ceiling and down behind you. THIS CAN TRAP YOU more effectively than flames.

Hey! What’s a new kitchen against your funeral?

The fire service will not only put a fire out but will check that the fire hasn’t sneaked off anywhere else or caused any other dangerous problems… they know what to look for. They will make sure that a fire doesn’t flare up again after you’ve gone back to bed…

While I’m going on…

Good practice…

Always have a charged cell phone you can grab and run with.

Same with at least one flash light.

Same with your car keys but less important (except your car can give you emergency shelter).

Soon as your kids are old enough make sure that they know what to do.

Have a rendezvous point. (People have died going back in for kids who were already out).

Make overnight visitors aware of your arrangements (just like you should make yourself aware of arrangements at any hotel… or when visiting).

When it’s cold a grab blanket or coat is good but never go back for one.

Have you got a neighbourhood watc

12

Check those smoke detectors at least twice a year and have more than one type (battery operated and ones that run on AC current.) Do not put a smoke dectector in the bathroom or over the kitchen sink. Water vapor can set them off. Keep a fire extinguisher handy in the kitchen. The most likely place a fire will start in the kitchen while you are there is the range top. Also have several boxes of baking soda handy. Baking soda can be used to extinguish grease fires. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES PUT WATER ON A GREASE FIRE!

Extinguisher protocol for the kitchen. Have the fire extingusher where you can get to it in an emergency. Do not put it in a cabinet next to or over the stove. You won’t be able to get to it. Put it in a cabinet on the other side of the kitchen so you can turn around and get it. The recommended type of extingusher is an ABC type. These are good for A: paper and wood fires, B: Flammable liquids, C: Electrical. The most common type of ABC extingusher is made by First Alert and weighs about three pounds. While this is adequate for a very small fire it is not enough for one that has spread beyond the cooktop. You are better off with a larger extinguisher, at least a 5 pounder. When extinguishing a fire stand back at least 6 feet and sweep the extingusher at the base of the fire, not into the flames themselves. Even though you think you have the fire out, don’t take any chances. Have the fire dept come and check it out. I’ve seen all too often homes burn down because of a fire that smoldered for days, even weeks.

Do not keep flammable liquids near the oven/stove/range, this includes the cooking oil. Do not install a smoke detector near the oven, it will be set off the first time you scorch the bacon, and who hasn’t done that at least once. If you use powdered coffee creamer, do not keep it near the stove and do not use it near the stove. If the powdered dust becomes airborne it can ignite and explode. The same goes for flour and corn meal. If you grind your own wheat or grain for homemade

13

I heard the same thing about smoke detectors having a 10 year life expectancy. When we bought our new house I bought three new ones to replace the old ones and 2 new carbon monoxide detectors as well.

14

Yes, we tested ours with rain. They all have new batteries now. I will be replacing one unit on Monday. It the second one to be replaced in 10 years.

We usually replace the batteries with the time change, but were negligent this year.

Thanks for the friendly reminder,

Sue

15

10 years is the maximum length of time you should wait to replace a smoke detector. It’s better to peplace them before they’re 6 years old. Just because they can last 10 years in testing doesn’t mean they will last that long in your home. Are you going to put your trust in a company claim or in the word of a firefighter who has seen homes burn down because a 7 year old smoke detector didn’t work.

16

I have smoke and heat detectors and mine are the non ionozation kind ( for the smoke ones anyway). I dont trust the ones first alert puts out and I am not going to get on a high horse here but I suggest you go out and get better ones.

I have been crawling down a heat and smoke filled hall and the damn detector goes off for the first time as we are putting wet stuff on the red stuff, 15 minutes after the fire started. There are tests by independent groups but I dont have the links.

17

I had an experience yesterday that made me think of this thread! I moved recently (in September) and had an alarm system installed, including fire alarm. Yesterday at work, I got a call from the alarm company, indicating that the fire alarm was going off! I sprinted out of work and had them summon the fire department.

When I arrived at home, there was no smoke and apparently no fire, and one of the firemen on the scene asked if I had a fire suppression system, because there was water leaking from part of the house. As it turns out, I had installed a new sink faucet the previous day and part of the faucet sprung a leak, which sent a spray of hot water out into my kitchen! The steam from the spray hit the smoke alarm, which, as mentioned above, will interpret hot-water steam as a fire, and it went off! While it’s a bit of an inconvenience, I am grateful that it did, because I was able to come home and shut off the water within minutes–my plan for that day would have meant not returning home for another eight hours, which would have meant eight hours of flooding and hot water instead of a few minutes! A few gallons of water leaked through into the basement and made a mess, but nothing got seriously damaged. And my train stuff is all on the other side of the basement, that didn’t get any water intrusion. :wink:

It doesn’t look like there will be much permanent damage (my house is 99 years old, with no drywall wallboard near the water leaks, and old-growth redwood construction) and while it’s going to be dreadfully inconvenient, it could have been A LOT worse! I’m glad I got that alarm system: it has already done its job, although in an unintended way…CHECK THOSE SMOKE ALARMS, unplug your model railroad power pack when you’re not using it, and be safe so you can keep on railroading!

18

I just replaced all 6 of the smoke detectors in my home last night. They are all originals and the house is 11 years old. We have had the smoke detectors go ‘on’ on Halloween when some of the ‘fog’ from the fog machine drifted into the house. The smoke detectors have also gone on when someone is taking a hot shower. I never had these problems in the past, so I decided it was time for all new smoke detectors.

Next up is a couple of fire extinguisher. One for the kitchen and one for the garage.

Dennis