Many Massachusetts smoke alarms will need replacing in the coming months, fire officials warned Tuesday.
The state Department of Fire Services said that Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine and the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts are “teaming up” in October to call attention to the wave of alarms nearing the end of their “useful lifespans.”
“Smoke alarms are like any other appliance – they don’t last forever,” said Westborough Fire Chief Patrick Purcell, president of the chiefs association, in the statement. “Right now, the alarms that were purchased and put into service 10 years ago are reaching the end of their useful lifespan. Our concern is that a wave of smoke alarms in homes across Massachusetts won’t be reliable in the months ahead.”
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In 2015, the department said in a statement, a change to the fire safety code mandated that replacement smoke alarms in most Massachusetts homes have a sealed, 10-year battery and a “hush” feature, which decreases the likelihood that people will disable the alarms following a “nuisance” activation from cooking smoke.
Officials said the alarms installed by “early adopters” of the revised code may soon no longer be reliable.
In seeking out replacements, the statement said, people ought to buy devices bearing “the mark of an independent testing lab such as UL or Intertek/ETL.”
Replacement alarms should meet the “UL Standard 217, 8th Edition or later” standards, the statement said.
That refers to standards promulgated by Underwriters Laboratories, a global safety organization.
The group’s website says a “major update implemented in the eighth edition of UL 217, the Standard for Safety for Smoke Alarms, includes new requirements for a Cooking Nuisance Smoke Test to help prevent cooking nuisance alarms. During the test, smoke alarms are mounted 10 feet away from an electric range, which is turned to full power with frozen hamburger patties cooking inside on a broiler tray underneath electric broiler coils. In order to pass the test, the alarms must not go off while the patties are cooking prior to the smoke reaching a certain obscuration (OBS) level and/or measuring ionization chamber (MIC) value.”
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Officials said in Tuesday’s fire services statement that having working smoke alarms is critically important.
Brockton Fire Chief Brian Nardelli urged people to check the back of an alarm to make sure it’s a good one.
“Every smoke alarm should have a manufacturing date printed on the back of the device,” said Nardelli, first vice president of the association, in the statement. “If it’s more than 10 years old, or if it doesn’t have a date, replace it right away. If it’s not 10 years old and it takes alkaline batteries, this is a great time to put fresh batteries in to be sure you’re protected through the winter.”
Davine echoed those comments.
“When it’s time to replace your smoke alarms, we strongly recommend choosing new alarms that meet UL Standard 217, 8thEdition or later,” Davine said. “Look for that language on the packaging or the product specifications. These devices use the latest multi-criteria technology, which helps to prevent nuisance alarms caused by cooking smoke.”
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.