Recent Developments In Fire Safety
In 2011, a new campaign called the "100 Years/100%" smoke detector campaign, has set a goal of the installation of at least two working smoke detectors in the homes of all Iowa school children in grades K-6 by the end of 2011. For more information, see http://www.dps.state.ia.us/fm/main/smoke_detector_project/PDFs/MediaPacket.pdf.
On October 4, 2010, the NBC Today Show featured a story called "How to Survive a Nighttime House Fire". View the video by clicking here
On October 28, 2009, the United States Fire Administration released information about a new program.
The Install. Inspect. Protect. Campaign is promoting fire safety through a free Campaign Toolkit DVD; featuring English and Spanish educational materials; print, radio and television PSAs; children's materials, a video demonstration of how quickly a home fire spreads, and on the USFA's consumer-friendly Web site at www.usfa.dhs.gov/smokealarms.
Effective April 1, 2009 (effective date delayed from October 1, 2008) the Iowa State Fire Marshal will require all new residential construction to be equipped with dual sensor smoke detectors. A dual sensor detector is a detector that has both a photoelectric sensor that protects best against slow, smoldering fires and an ionization sensor that protects best against fast, flaming fires.
Most detectors in homes currently use 'ionization' technology to detect the smoke. Ionization detectors are best at the early detection of rapidly spreading, flaming fires. Some homes may have detectors that use 'photoelectric' technology to detect the smoke. Photoelectric detectors are best at the early detection of slow burning, smoldering fires. Dual sensor smoke detectors combine both technologies into one detector. Please do your part to help reduce the number of fire injuries and death. Properly installed and maintained smoke alarms are the key to ensuring early notification in the event of a fire. This is critical to improving the chance of surviving in a fire!
On January 1, 2009, five states including Iowa joined the growing list of states allowing only "fire safe" cigarettes to be sold within their borders. Fire safe cigarettes are designed to self-extinguish when left unattended. Cigarettes are a leading cause of home fire fatalities in the United States, killing 700 to 900 people each year. (Safe Kids Worldwide)