Fire safety stressed in May
Tuesday, May 20, 2008

May is Electrical Safety Month, and with electrical home fires claiming an average 485 lives each year in the United States, there is one piece of advice that Brewer Fire Chief Rick Bronson is spreading around.

"Have a reasonably new fire detector," he said. "[And] the whole key is where the thing is mounted in the building — location, location, location."

Bronson suggested that there be one Underwriters Laboratory-certified fire alarm on each floor and in bedrooms. At his home, he has three interconnected alarms located in the basement, first and second floors, and he has another battery-powered fire alarm on the second floor.

There are a number of reasons that electrical fires start, but older homes with knob and tube wiring is a major cause of electrical system failures, said David Russell, Brewer code enforcement officer who is also a master electrician.

The old wiring is "over taxed" and overheats, causing smoldering fires, he said. "Any loose connection is your biggest problem. It’s really important to make sure you have a tight connection."

Overloaded circuits and extension cords are the other major causes of electrical fires along with appliance defects, he said.

The 2008 National Electrical Code requirements, which are updated every three years, have a number of changes that are designed to cut the number of electrical fires, Russell said.

Tamper-resistant outlets, which have a "plastic flap inside that you have to push … in order to get these to open" and operate, are designed to prevent children from getting injured, he said.

The NEC also recommends that all new construction have Arc-fault circuit breakers, Bronson said.

"Electricity is always trying to find the easiest way to get to ground" and is known to "arc" or "jump" from one source to another, causing sparks that can lead to fires, he said.

The new Arc-faults are the "next generation" of circuit breaker. It cuts off electricity when it detects an arc or jump before a problem can occur, Bronson said.

Of the nearly 21,000 home electrical fires in the U.S. during 2005 "roughly half of these fires cited arcing as a factor contributing to ignition," a National Fire Prevention Association brochure on Arc-fault circuits states.

Even though the NEC has recommended that Arc-fault circuit breakers, which cost between $35 and $40 each, be installed in all new construction, each state sets its own rules. In Maine the Arc-fault circuit breakers will be required in bedrooms, Russell said.

If residents in Brewer have questions about the electrical safety of their homes, Russell said he’s willing to inspect their home. He suggested residents of other towns call their code enforcement officer or a master electrician and added that concerns should not be ignored.

No matter what brand of fire detector is purchased and installed, the key is to have a working one and to change the alarm’s battery every year, Bronson said.

"There are several types of fire alarms available that range from cheap to costly, but all basically work the same," he said.

Bangor Fire Department’s Public Education Officer Jake Johnson agreed. There are two types of detectors, one for fast flame type fires and the other for slow, smoldering types. Newer types detect both, and it will be indicated on the box it comes in. If your smoke detectors are more than 10 years old, it’s probably time to replace them, Johnson said.

Look for the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) or Factory Mutual endorsement on the box. Some of the newer models come with a feature that will allow you to use a TV remote control to silence them for a short time in the event the alarm is triggered by something like cooking smoke. It gives the homeowner a few minutes to clear the air, Johnson said.