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economist suntribune fire- safety saturday fani 8 2000 trust your smoke detectors fire officials say two types of technology properly maintained and monitored can help save your family in the event of fire by patrick casey staff writer officials at york regions fire departments are urging residents to trust the detectors installed in their homes and businesses despite reports that question their reliability last week ctvs w5 news program said independent testing showed 11 commonly used ionization smoke detectors failed to sound alarms within the time limit required by the standards council of canada a limit safety tips 77ie ontario fire marshals office provides a fire safety checklist that helps keep families safe from fire and carbon monoxide smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors install batteryoperated smoke alarms outside sleep ing areas and preferably on every level of the home have both ionization and photoelectricalarms and install them sidebyside test smoke alarms to ensure they are in good working order to test your alarm for detecting smouldering fires light an incense stick and hold it below the alarm until it sounds if it doesnt replace it replace any smoke alarms that are more than 10 years old install batteryoperated carbon monoxide detectors near sleeping areas in case of fire follow your familys home escape plan everyone should know two ways out of the house and have a prearranged meeting place outside get everyone out of the house immediately and call the fire department from a neighbours home do not reenter the house for any reason take steps to prevent fires keep candles away from all combustible materials secure candles in solid containers and protect them with a glass chimney never leave candles unattended propane or charcoal barbecues must never be used inside the home portable space heaters should be used only with the fuel for which they were designed if your fireplace or woodstove has not been used for a longtime the chimney should be checked by a profes sional technician keep a window open to provide necessary ventilation before going to bed do a checkof every room to make sure candles are out and heaters are off general cosmetic dentistry for the whole family including orthodontics for children adults jaw joint tmj treatment 9054757600 18 crown steel drive warden 14ui avenue that varies based on the amount of smoke and on thursday the council said it has started an independent review of testing methods used by the underwriters laboratories canada a scarboroughbased nonprofit safety organization that has the power to approve products however richmond hill fire prevention capl paul schuster said ionization detectors are designed to react quickly to flash fires while photoelectric detectors are best suited for the smoulderingtype fires thatw5 used in the tests the problem is ionization detectors are more common across the market and retail for between 10 and 12 about onethird of the price of the photoelectric alarms he said there are two types of technology out there and that is why your ionization detector will go off when you burn toast in the kitchen explained schuster but both do work and ionization detectors have been proven to reduce fire deaths considerably smoke detectors mandatory building and fire codes require a smoke detector to be installed but it does not speci fy what kind the w5 show has blown this a little out of proportion with a little bit of sen sationalism i have been in house fires and these detectors have gone off far sooner than what they have identified its known the pho toelectric detectors are more sensitive but they are also more expensive what we have to try and get across to the public is not to disable the ionization detec tors added schuster keep them in place for added protection install a photoelectric alarm beside it and thats the best way to go ulc spokesperson joe hirschmugl said the ionization smoke alarms have been sav ing lives in canada for nearly 30 years and all ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms bearing a ulc or culus mark have been tested to nationally recognized standards the standards were developed in 1991 and amended three times to include nearly 110 individual tests on the smoke alarms in 30 performance and 20 construction categories ofcourse we will work with the standards council of canada said hirschmugl we are open to doing anything that is going to ease the minds of consumers if there are changes to be made we will make them but we are waiting for test results and data we have asked w5 for so we can conduct our own samples the ontario fire code requires all homes in the province to have working smoke alarms despite a number of recent tragedies in 1999 ontario recorded the lowest fire death rate ever that continues a 20year trend in which the provincial fire death rate has decreased by more than 60 per cent due in large part to enhanced building and fire codes greater public awareness and the use of home smoke alarms according to ontario fire marshal bernard moyle homes with working smoke alarms have a 40- to 50percent lower fire death rate the ontario fire service recommends homes have at least one smoke alarm on every level and outside all sleeping areas for maximum protection install a smoke alarm in every room urnvm 1 i i v v 1 xx 1 v x xx- nk y- nnium ask about our senior classes the works fitness aerobics centre hg jggj gg saving on initiation fees 15 mo sqft om cardio aerobics cybex childcare tons of free weights proshop tanning massage therapy spa facilities personal training and much more