Vermont Requires Photoelectric Smoke Detectors in 2009

Two years after a fire killed five people in Barre, a new law aimed at preventing similar tragedies is in place in Vermont.

Signed by Gov. Jim Douglas, the law requires the installation of photoelectric smoke detectors in new homes and in homes that are being sold. The more commonly used type is called an ionization smoke detector.

Fire officials say that in smoldering fires, smoke fills a building before flames spread. In the 2005 fire that killed four children and a mother in a Barre apartment, a smoldering fire was suspected as the cause since the victims died of smoke inhalation, not burns.

The law phases in the requirement, taking effect in 2009 for new construction or any home being sold.

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Information from: The Times Argus, http://www.timesargus.com/