NYS 10 Year Smoke Alarm Bill Passes

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Passed on by yorktownpastchief:

Time is running out, and we need your help! Only six weeks left in 2015 – Governor Cuomo MUST call for and sign the 10-year smoke alarm bill NOW!

The 10-year smoke alarm bill is designed to save lives. It passed through the State Senate and Assembly this year thanks to the leadership and support of State Senate Majority Leader John J. Flanagan and Assembly Majority Leader Joseph D. Morelle. New Yorkers deserve to see this bill passed so it can do what it was intended to do.

...The proposed law would require all battery-operated smoke alarms sold in New York to be equipped with non-removable, sealed-in batteries that can power the device for at least 10 years. This type of smoke alarm is effectively tamper-proof and removes human error from the fire safety equation of a home, helping to protect residents and firefighters alike.

Governor Cuomo must sign this bill now before time runs out. This is a critical public safety issue for New York State. Write to the Governor, and tell him how important this is to both New Yorkers and the fire service. Urge him to sign A3057A/S2696A.

[HalfVolley 11]

Why WOULDN'T Governor Cuomo sign this?

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Excellent, to-the-point piece on this important matter and why the legislation is direly needed.

This op-ed letter was written to and published by the Journal News/LoHud.com by Chief Ed Rush of the Hartsdale Fire District.

View: 2 Hartsdale fires show lifesaving value of working smoke alarms
Chief Ed Rush December 10, 2015

Gov. Cuomo should sign a bill that would mandate smoke alarms with 10-year, sealed-in batteries

In the late spring and early summer of 2014, two nearly identical homes in Hartsdale experienced nearly identical, early morning fires. In one case, the residents were roused from their beds by the blaring of their smoke alarms, escaping without harm. In the other home, one resident died quickly, and another was trapped in the bedroom before being pulled out by firefighters. Sadly, she too died at the hospital shortly thereafter.

The critical difference in these cases was the presence of working smoke alarms. The survivors’ home was properly equipped with smoke alarms, while their neighbors were less fortunate. Smoke alarms save lives, and this case clearly illustrates just how true this is.

Smoke alarms give residents the crucial, life-saving seconds that they need to escape a home rapidly filling with fire and smoke. They are the most important appliances found in our homes and they protect us, and our families from unspeakable tragedy. It stands to reason that we want to be sure these smoke alarms are always functioning and always turned on.

The fire service, Hartsdale included, has invested significant time and effort in public awareness campaigns, urging people to regularly change the batteries in their smoke alarms. Some do remember to do so, but many do not. According to the National Fire Protection Association, three of every five home fire deaths in the United States occurs in a home with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. Something must change, especially when so many of these deaths are so easily preventable.

Smoke alarms equipped with sealed-in, non-removable, long-lasting batteries afford residents a much greater level of protection. Once installed and activated, they require virtually no maintenance, protecting a home, and its residents, for up to 10 years. They are ideal for all homes, and make especially good sense for senior citizens, who need not risk injury climbing on chairs to change batteries.

There is currently legislation before Gov. Andrew Cuomo, sponsored by State Senate Majority Leader John J. Flanagan and Assembly Majority Leader Joseph D. Morelle, that would require all battery-operated smoke alarms sold in New York State to be equipped with these 10-year, sealed-in batteries. This bill passed the State Senate and Assembly in June and has been languishing ever since, awaiting the governor’s call.

We are heading into the winter season, a time of year that sees more fires — more reminders — than any other. Furnaces, Christmas trees, holiday lights, greater oven usage, and more contribute to the holiday “busy” season for the fire service. The season started with a terrible reminder, as a Brooklyn apartment in East Flatbush burned over Thanksgiving weekend, killing an elderly couple. The home was not equipped with smoke alarms.

By calling for and signing this bill, Gov. Cuomo will take action to make New York State safer for the future. As our two fires in Hartsdale so clearly demonstrated, smoke alarms matter. Gov. Cuomo should take the lesson of these fires to heart.

The writer is chief of the Hartsdale Fire Department, located in the town of Greenburgh

http://www.lohud.com/get-access/?return=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lohud.com%2Fstory%2Fopinion%2Fcontributors%2F2015%2F12%2F08%2Fview-2-hartsdale-fires-show-lifesaving-value-working-smoke-alarms%2F76921504%2F

[ProudImmortal 0]

There are some potential problems with this, although it is dubious that Duracell and Energizer have their name on this document

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2015/PSdata/tmy/2015SB-01012-R000303-Energizer%20Duracell-TMY.PDF

[kinkchaser 352]

This the second great article I have read this week authored by Ed Rush, the other being in IAFC newsletter about recruitment , you can always tell the writings of a Stepinac man.

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ALBANY - The days of replacing the battery in your smoke alarm will one day be a thing of the past in New York.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill late Monday preventing the sale of smoke alarms powered by removable, replaceable batteries beginning in 2017.

Instead, retailers will only be able to sell only smoke-detecting devices with a power source that lasts at least a decade.

The new law applies only to the sale of smoke alarms, meaning the battery-powered devices already in homes will be allowed to remain there until they stop functioning. And the devices will continue to be on sale in the state throughout 2016.

In an approval message, Cuomo, a Democrat, said the bill has some unnamed "technical issues" that will make it difficult to implement, but lawmakers have agreed to pass some minor changes when they return to the state Capitol next month.

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/politics-on-the-hudson/2015/12/29/say-goodbye-battery-powered-smoke-alarms-ny/78012340/

Legislation Document: http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?term=2015&bn=S02696