Smoke Detector Company Must Pay Damages
The makers of the First Alert smoke detectors, BRK Brands, Inc., have been ordered to pay big damages in a court case (from The Business Review).
The makers of the First Alert brand smoke detector must pay the survivors of a May 31, 2001 Rotterdam, N.Y., fire more than $7 million in damages, including $500,000 in punitive damages, a jury ruled Friday, April 21, in a case heard in the U.S. Court for the Northern District of New York.
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The family had two of the companies smoke detectors installed in their home and both failed to alert, Hacker said. The detectors at issue were ionization type smoke detectors that sense high temperature, fast moving fires, as opposed to detectors employing photoelectric cells which are better at detecting smoldering fires, like the one which apparently killed William and Christine Hackert, Hacker said.
A photoelectric smoke detector would detect the smoke from a fire 15 minutes earlier than the ionization type, Hacker said.
During the trial the jury heard from witnesses who testified that the company was aware of the shortcomings of the ionization only detector but continued to market the product instead of selling only dual detectors. The dual detectors cost from $20 to $25 while the ionization only types sell for $10 to $15.
I'm not sure what to think about this ruling, but I am sure that there will be an appeal.
