Glade Valley News 

New Maryland Smoke Alarm Law; What You Need to Know!

A new state law aimed at reducing home fire deaths went into effect on July 1, 2013. It requires replacement of any battery-only operated smoke alarm that is more than 10 years old with a unit powered by a 10-year sealed-in battery having a “Hush” button feature – ultimately affecting more than 800,000 Maryland homes with battery- only operated smoke alarms. The effective date for this requirement to be completed by is January 1, 2018.

Why is a sealed-in battery important? Nationally, two-thirds of all home fire deaths occur in homes with either no smoke alarm or no working smoke alarm, mainly due to missing or disconnected batteries. By sealing the battery inside the alarm, the unit becomes tamper resistant and removes the burden from consumers to remember to change batteries, which in turn, will save lives. These sealed-in, long-life battery smoke alarms provide continuous protection for a decade, and national fire experts with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) recommend their use.

The new Maryland Smoke Alarm Law, Public Safety Article Sections 9-101 through 9-109, requires the replacement of smoke alarms when they are ten years old; (ten years from the date of manufacture). This replacement requirement is already in the adopted State Fire Code, reference to the 2013 edition of NFPA 72, Paragraph 14.4.7. It is envisioned that adding the wording in State Law and publicizing the requirement will hopefully result in the widespread replacement of older nonfunctioning or unreliable smoke alarms. The date of manufacture, while sometimes hard to locate, should be printed on the back of the smoke alarm. If no manufacture date can be located, it is clearly time to replace the smoke alarm.

The new law heavily emphasizes the use of sealed-battery smoke alarms with a long life battery and a silence/hush button feature. However, it is critical to understand these devices are appropriate only where battery-only operated smoke alarms presently exist or in locations where no smoke alarms are present. (It is never acceptable to remove required wired in smoke alarms and replace them with any type of battery-only operated device). A 110 volt electrically powered smoke alarm may only be replaced with a new 110 volt unit with a battery backup.

Smoke alarms need to be placed on every level of the home and outside the sleeping areas, such as, the hallway accessing the bedrooms. It is also recommended to place them inside each bedroom to allow sound sleepers to be alerted if smoke begins to enter the room. Please remember to keep bedroom doors closed when sleeping to help ensure smoke, toxic gases and flames can’t easily enter the bedroom allowing you more time to escape.

State Fire Marshal Brian S. Geraci emphasizes the value of smoke alarms, “The importance of ensuring the proper maintenance and use of smoke alarms is paramount. The materials used in products we keep in our homes tend to burn much more readily, thus giving us a very limited window of time to escape the effects of fire. These early warning devices can be the difference between life or death in an incident of an uncontrolled fire inside our homes”.

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Glade Valley News 

Walkersville Volunteer Fire Company Responds to Two House Fires.

Crews from Company #11 responded to 2 house fires on Friday night. The first occurred around 7:30PM in Frederick City. ET114 was dispatched as part of the Rapid Intervention Assignment for a basement fire on Rock Creek Drive, but was diverted to establish a landing zone for Trooper #3, who was called to medevac a burn victim from the scene. The MSP helicopter was landed in the parking lot of the old Frederick Town Mall, where EMS crews met them with the patient. ET114 was then sent to Station #1 to cover any additional calls.

For the second incident, Quint11 (Q11) was dispatched as part of the first alarm assignment for a house fire in Lewistown at around 9:00PM. This was a single family home with fire found on the first and second floors by first arriving units. Deputy Chief Barrick was one of the first officers to arrive on scene and was assigned as the Fire Attack/Operations Supervisor. Upon arriving on scene Q11 set up ground ladders on each side of the structure, and was then directed to open the roof for ventilation. Q11 and crew remained on the scene for approximately 3 1/2 hours to assist with overhaul and lighting for investigators from the Fire Marshal’s office, once the fire was extinguished.

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Community Glade Valley News 

WVFC #11 receives county accredidation

The Walkersville Volunteer Fire Company was one of 25 volunteer corporations recognized by Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner, at a ceremony at Winchester Hall on Wednesday November 8TH. This new process required all volunteer corporations to complete an Accredidation Manual, which contains documents confirming compliance with all Federal, State, and County laws, as well as providing proof of certifications for all volunteer personnel assigned. This manual will be updated, and reviewed annually. The process took close to two years to complete, but puts Frederick County in the lead in the state of Maryland in certifying each of the volunteer corporations that services the citizens of the county. Fire Chief Randy Williams was on hand to receive company 11″s Certificate of Accredidation.

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