Washington fire marshals, chiefs' associations issue consumer advisory about certain fire alarms

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The Washington Fire Chiefs Association and the Washington State Association of Fire Marshals on Wednesday issued an advisory warning consumers about the online purchase of certain fire alarms.

The two fire service organizations are asking Amazon, the country’s largest online retailer, to stop the sale of smoke alarms that are not tested to nationally recognized standards.

"We are also requesting with other National Fire Service Groups to have the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) take action to ensure consumers are protected and purchasing safe products," a news release said.

The products in question are smoke alarms that do not carry the testing labels from a nationally recognized third-party testing laboratory such as Underwriter Laboratories (UL) or Intertek/ETL – the two largest independent safety testing companies for electrical products.  Smoke alarms sold in the United States are sent to UL or Intertek/ETL for testing and review.

National Fire Service Groups have identified several smoke alarm brands lacking third-party testing laboratory marks on Amazon, including X-Sense, Arikon, and Bovon.

“We are urging Amazon and other online retailers to stop selling smoke alarms and other fire safety products that do not carry the UL or ETL marks, or marks from another third party that has tested the alarms to the UL 217 standard,” said Joe Dunaway, president of the Washington State Association of Fire Marshals. “We are also asking that retailers review their smoke alarm products and remove any non-listed products from their websites immediately.”

For more information regarding the installation and maintenance of smoke alarms, please visit:  http://www.nfpa.org/public-education/by-topic/smoke-alarms/installing-and-maintaining-smoke-alarms