Defective Smoke Alarms & Smoke Alarm Lawsuits
Mobile, Alabama
DO YOU HAVE A SMOKE ALARM CASE?
If you have a case involving a fire and there is a death or substantial injury, then you should consider a potential smoke alarm case. The first order of business is to secure the scene and locate all smoke alarms in the structure. The smoke alarms must be preserved. If the smoke alarm is still on the wall or ceiling, then remove a section of the wall or ceiling with the smoke alarm intact. The smoke alarm can be x‑rayed to determine if the battery is still intact and properly positioned. The smoke alarm must be inspected by a smoke alarm expert and a battery expert if there is an issue with the battery. Failure to maintain the integrity of the smoke alarm and the battery during removal may result in spoliation of evidence issues. If the manufacturer can be identified prior to removal, then it is a good idea to contact the manufacturer and place it on notice of your intentions to remove the detector.
People familiar with the house should be questioned about the number and location of the smoke alarms and when and where they were purchased. Determine the make and model and purchase an exemplar. You should determine if the smoke alarm sounded or sounded late during the fire. Immediately interview any survivors, neighbors, and first responders to determine if they heard a smoke alarm sound. If the smoke alarm is powered, but did not sound in the presence of smoke, then you most likely have a defective ionization smoke alarm. If your investigation reveals that the smoke alarm did sound, then determine at what point in the fire it sounded. Remember that ionization smoke alarms have a significant delay in sounding. Oftentimes, the sleeping occupant needs only 30 more seconds to get out of the burning structure and a smoke alarm sounding 15-30 minutes late could certainly be the cause of their inability to escape.
Another favorite defense of the manufacturers is the battery. The defense will look for evidence that there was no battery in the smoke alarm, it had been disconnected or the battery was old. Ionization smoke alarms are notorious for nuisance alarms during cooking. Oftentimes, people disconnect their smoke alarm battery and fail to reconnect it. Therefore, your investigation should immediately focus on the battery itself and any witnesses who have knowledge about the maintenance of the smoke detector, especially any testing or replacement of the battery.
Smoke alarms are designed to alert people to a fire. Most smoke alarm cases involve situations where the family is asleep, a fire breaks out, and the smoke alarm does not sound or delays in sounding during the early stages. If the fire occurs when people inside the house are awake and aware of the fire, then there may be no proximate cause between the failure of a smoke alarm and any resulting death or injury. Therefore, determine where everyone was in the house at the time of the fire and what they were doing. It is very important to establish a detailed time line with regard to the progression of the fire and the activities of the people inside the house. Many experts are needed in these product liability cases.
