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The leader in local news since 1994
Wednesday 18.09.13 Issue: N. 974
Readership of over 40,000
Time to ring the alarm
on smoke detectors...
Geoff Helisma
For 13 years Adrian
Butler has been sound-
ing the alarm on ioni-
sation smoke alarms
the predominant alarm
in households but
it seems the people
who have the power to
make the changes that
could save thousands
of lives are having
trouble hearing the
message.
The Wooloweyah
man, chair and co-
founder of The World
Fire Safety Foundation,
needs the help of like-
minded people to put
pressure on the legisla-
tors, our politicians.
Member for Clarence
Chris Gulaptis has
taken up the cause he
made a speech in the
NSW Parliament on
June 20, with the aim of
initiating a parliamen-
tary inquiry into the
issue.
On an official basis,
the CSIRO explains the
difference between the
two types of detectors:
Photoelectric alarms
detect smoke from
cooler, smouldering
fires quicker than ioni-
sation alarms, where as
ionisation alarms detect
smoke from hotter,
flaming fires quicker
than photoelectric
alarms.
However, according
to Mr Butler and count-
less experts and fire
organisations around
the world, ionisation
alarms are good at
detecting flaming fires
but inadequate when
it comes to reacting to
smouldering fires the
type of fire that most
often results in house
fire deaths.
The fire might have
been smouldering for
an hour, then bang it
erupts into flames and
the fire alarm goes off
but then theres not
enough time to get
out, Mr Butler said.
In his speech to par-
liament, Mr Gulaptis
posed a question: In
2004 the smoke alarm
standard affecting
[sleeping areas and
paths of egress in] com-
mercial buildings was
amended to mandate
the installation of
photoelectric smoke
detectors. That begs an
important question:
Are ionisation smoke
alarms defective?
He also pointed
out that, In August
2008 the International
Association of Fire
Fighters said that pho-
toelectric smoke alarms
will drastically reduce
the loss of life among
citizens and fire fight-
ers. The Northern
Territory enacted
Australias first resi-
dential photoelectric
legislation.
Since November
2011 photoelectric
smoke alarms must
be installed in all new
Northern Territory
homes.
Curiously, the entity
that determines the
Australian standards
for smoke alarms,
Standards Australias
FP-002 Fire Detection,
Warning, Control and
Intercom Systems
committee, was unsuc-
cessful in having its
recommended changes
to mandate the instal-
lation of photoelectric
smoke alarms.
Speaking as one of
18 members of the
committee, but not as
a representative of the
committee, David Isaac
told the Review: We
are all independent
experts in our own par-
ticular fields, and we all
agreed that we needed
to legislate photoelec-
tric smoke alarms.
It all started in 2006
when information
given to us indicated
that there were serious
limitations with ioni-
sation smoke alarms
ability to detect smoul-
dering fires.
We asked the CSIRO
scientist, who was a
member of our com-
mittee: In the Australian
Standards smoke alarm
test, what was the level
of smoke that the ioni-
sation alarms activated
in the CSIRO test room?
The numbers he
gave us were between
51 and 62 per cent
obscuration of vision
per [lineal] metre.
When we found out
that the level is so high,
we asked how these
were allowed to pass
the standard at such a
high level.
Then we realised
there was a table in
AS3786 [the smoke
alarm standard] that
required photo elec-
tric alarms to pass a
low obscuration level,
but allowed ionisation
alarms to have a differ-
ent pass criterion.
Mr Isaac explained
that the ionisation
alarm detects submi-
cron particulates, which
cant be seen by the
human eye, citing the
operation of a toaster as
an example.
Whats coming out
of the toaster are mil-
lions of submicron par-
ticles that are burning
off the bread and rising
to the ceiling and, as
we all know, the alarm
sometimes goes off.
A photoelec-
tric alarm wouldnt
go off under those
circumstances.
So the average per-
son thinks ionisation
alarms are super sensi-
tive and therefore they
are safe. The problem is
they wont detect visible
Continued on page 2
Wooloweyah resident Adrian Butler has dedicated much of his time over the past 13
years highlighting the inadequacies of ionisation smoke alarms commonly found in most
homes. Despite what appears to be overwhelming evidence in support of his case to make
photoelectric alarms mandatory in homes, change is slow to come. Pic: Geoff Helisma
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2 Wednesday, September 18, 2013, clarence valley Review
The leader in local news
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Yamba
General Manager
Ann Mazzitelli
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Continued from page 1
smoke because their require-
ment to pass a visible smoke
test is just not there [in the
Australian Standards (AS)].
We only put that require-
ment on photoelectric alarms.
As it is the visible smoke
that will prevent someone
from escaping to a place of
safety, we decided to change
the table [in the AS] so that it
required all smoke alarms, no
matter what type they are, to
pass the visible smoke crite-
rion in other words, if you
put either type of alarm in a
test room and generate smoke,
they must all go off in a speci-
fied range within the table.
However, when a draft form
of the new standard for public
comment was submitted to
the Australian Building Codes
Board (ACBC) for approval, it
was rejected.
Mr Isaac said the inability
of ionisation alarms to detect
slow smouldering fires could
amount to a fatal deficiency.
If you look at the death
statistics in Australia and New
Zealand, the most common
fire is the kitchen fire, he said.
But the fire that most com-
monly kills people is a smoul-
dering fire at night between
the hours of 8pm and 8am.
The most common fire at
those times is a fire that starts
with a long smouldering time.
If youve got a fire that starts
[for example] as an electrical
fault the smoke will build
up in the house, and the ioni-
sation alarms wont activate.
When the smoke builds up
to a point where it turns into
flames, heres the problem:
if the ionisation alarm is in
the room where the fire is, it
will activate. If it is not in the
room of the fires origin, in
other words its in the hallway
outside the bedroom door; it
wont operate until almost the
time when the flames reach
the detector.
What we also know, statis-
tically from around the world,
is that once the fire reaches
the flaming stage in a typical
residence, there are fewer than
three minutes to survive in
that environment.
Meanwhile, there could
be legal implications for the
manufacturers of ionisation
alarms.
In March 2008, a New York
court awarded $2.8 million in
compensatory and punitive
damages to John and Sheila
Hackert (the surviving family
members of a fire) under the
New York law of negligence
and products liability.
The court found that the
appellants, First Alert Inc
and BRK BrandsInc, were
negligent with respect to the
[ionisation] smoke detector
and that the smoke detec-
tors failure was a legal cause
of the deaths of William and
Christine Hackert.
Meanwhile, both
Queenslands and NSWs fire
agencies, Queensland Fire and
Rescue Service (QFRS) and
Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW),
advocate the use of photoelec-
tric detectors.
FRNSW recommends the
installation of photoelectric
alarms, hard wired and inter-
connected, in all residential
accommodation. If only
installing one alarm, it should
be a photoelectric alarm.
QFRS: Photoelectric smoke
alarms are highly recommend-
ed by all Australian fire serv-
ices because of their better
smoke detection qualities. For
both flaming fires and smoul-
dering fires, photoelectric
smoke alarms are more likely
to alert occupants in time to
escape safely.
QFRS warns: Ionisation
alarms may not operate in
time to alert occupants early
enough to escape from smoul-
dering fires.
A July 2012 ACBC report
Assessment of options for
residential smoke alarm
provisions in the National
Construction Code makes no
recommendation regarding
which type of smoke detector
should be used in residential
homes.
Mr Gulaptis has written
to smoke alarm manufac-
turer United Technologies
Corporation and the CSIRO
seeking answers to questions
he raised in his speech.
When the Review went
to press, he had received a
response from the CSIRO,
which advised that it could
only conduct tests that veri-
fied what was outlined in the
Australian Standard.
As far as we are aware,
no issues have been raised
regarding the performance of
CSIROs laboratories in pro-
viding smoke sensitivity tests
as required by the relevant
Australian Standard, part of
the CSIROs response said.
It should be highlighted
that CSIRO does not set stand-
ards or policy in regard to
smoke alarms.
The process for the setting
of Australian standards and
their subsequent codification
and regulation principally
involves Standards Australia
and the Australian Building
Code Board.
The CSIRO told the Review
that it could not accommo-
date Mr Gulaptiss request to
film a side-by-side test of the
two alarms types.
Filming at CSIRO is not
appropriate due to the fact
that we do not set standards
or policy in regard to smoke
alarms, a spokesperson said.
It is also worth noting that
CSIRO does not carry out
comparative tests and that all
tests are carried out for com-
mercial clients in confidence.
Mr Gulaptis said he would
use the information, when
the manufacturer comes back
to me, to [address] the com-
mittee structure in parliament
to get a committee of inquiry
into the matter.
For more information about
Mr Butlers campaign, go to:
www.thewfsf.org
To read and/or hear Mr
Gulaptiss speech, go to: www.
smokealarmwarning.org/
thespeech.html
Mr Butler can be contacted
on 0409 782 166.
Two big billboards on the Pacific
Highway at Ulmarra and South Grafton
have joined the Grafton Regional Gallerys
Art at Large project.
The Ulmarra billboard is an image by
Yamba-based artist Rosie Vesper. It shows
dolphins swimming in clear blue water
and reflects the artists connection with
country and her love of the regions many
waterways.
The second billboard for north-bound
travellers is by Coledale-based artist
Robert Moore. His use of iconic country
images and colour instantly relates view-
ers to the rural culture of the Clarence
Valley.
Mayor Richie Williamson said the bill-
boards will give north and south-bound
travellers a glimpse of the work of talented
artists and the culture in our region.
I am sure people will be inspired by
these works and be motivated to spend
time in the beautiful Clarence Valley, Cr
Williamson said.
The Art at Large project is a multi-site
billboard initiative that presents a signifi-
cant opportunity for artists to display their
work in a high-profile format outside the
gallerys walls.
The project has been running since
early 2011 and has been made possible
through the support of the Clarence Valley
Council and Arts NSW.
Time to ring the alarm
on smoke detectors...
Billboards at large on the Pacific Highway
Left: Rosie Vesper Many Waters billboard design. Right: Robert Moore Grey Fergie and Dog billboard design
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VALLEY REVIEW
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