Coatesville Fire Kills 3 Boys, Ion Smoke Detectors Blamed
Desiree Wylie said she had at least seven smoke detectors scattered throughout her three-story home in Coatesville the night her son and 2 grandsons died in a fire. According to this article in the Philadelphia Daily News, none of the ionization detectors went off, even though she had just replaced the batteries. She awoke to use the bathroom and smelled smoke. The smoke grew so thick within seconds that she could not get to her 11-year-old son or her grandsons. All three boys died of smoke inhalation in what is being considered the result of a defective product design in Pennsylvania.
Because ionization detectors are less sensitive to the smoke produced by smoldering fires, they can take a half-hour or more longer than their competitor (photoelectric detectors) to alert residents of danger.
In Wylie’s case, the delay was the difference between life and death.
Because of tragedies like this, Jay Fleming, a Boston deputy fire chief, is educating fire and government officials and the public about the potentially deadly deficiencies of ionization (ion) detectors.
Consumers have three choices in smoke-detector technology: ion or photoelectric alarms, or a hybrid of the two.
Ion detectors activate faster in flaming fires, but in smoldering fires, which usually happen overnight when people are asleep, they sometimes fail to sound.
Fleming believes the best fire protection is a photoelectric detector and he wants manufacturers to put warning labels on the packaging of ion alarms, alerting buyers to their delay in smoldering fires.
A Boston law firm filed a class-action suit last summer against Kidde and First Alert, alleging that the two companies have misled and imperiled citizens by not alerting them to problems with ion alarms.
The lawsuit could affect thousands of people.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, in 2007, fires in 530,500 structures resulted in 3,000 deaths and 15,350 injuries and $10.6 billion in property damage. In Philadelphia, 39 people died in 20 fires last year.
A class action suit effectively gives a group of consumers having similar experiences the ability to sound their disapproval of an undesirable product or action offered by a corporation.
The purpose of a Philly class action lawsuit is to allow a group of individuals with like grievances against one company or other entity instead of dozens of similar cases tying up the courts. In the class action lawsuit, the group of plaintiffs is often represented by one or more within that group and if the conditions are right, the results may apply to not only the claims of those individuals but the claims of the entire group as well.
If you are currently a member of a class action suit at the Federal level or within the State of Pennsylvania, contact a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer at Cherry, Fieger & Marciano for assistance in assessment of your case.
