Atlanta Fire Rescue Department Gets $12,152 Toward Fire Detector Replacement Efforts

Wells Fargo & Co. and Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. presented a check for $12,152 to the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department Saturday morning that will go toward replacing 1,500 defective smoke detectors in residents' homes.

The effort is part of the Atlanta Fire Rescue's of 18,507 photoelectric smoke alarms, which were found to be counterfeit.

The alarms, which were purchased from Calabasas, Calif.-based Silver Sails Inc. in 2005 and 2006, were distributed to residents and businesses citywide through the department's Atlanta Smoke Alarm Program.

The recall began last month following the discovery that the alarms had counterfeit Underwriters Laboratories labels affixed to them.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has an ongoing probe regarding the defective smoke detectors.

The discovery came as a blow to the department, which spent the last six years distributing them to residents in the neighborhoods most prone to fire risk.

"To discover that almost six years' worth of work had gone in vain was a tremendous blow to our fire prevention and life safety efforts, Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran said Saturday during a news conference outside Atlanta Fire Station No. 2 in the Historic South Atlanta neighborhood.

He gave his remarks before firefighters canvassed an area of that neighborhood on Jonesboro Road to distribute 100 to 150 replacement fire and smoke alarms.

"When we heard about the smoke detector recall facing the Atanta department of fire and rescue, this leapt out at us as an ideal way to help," Brian Smith, an executive with Wells Fargo's insurance services unit, said in his remarks at the news conference. "We are delighted to direct this money to the purchase of 1,500 smoke detectors."

Since the recall began, the department will have replaced 400 of the defective alarms, including Saturday's efforts.

"The challenge is we've got approx 18,000 more to go," Cochran said. Those "18,000 smoke alarms cost a lot of money, but one of the great benefits of a partnership is when you have partners like Fireman's Fund and like Wells Fargo who contribute to your cost for fire prevention and life safety, it makes the challenge a lot easier to overcome."

Still, it won't be without difficulty.

Cochran said the recall — now entering its fifth week, will take about 2.5 to 3 years to complete.

The chief said that's the shortest amount of time in which it can be done.

"It's a very important initiative for us and 2.5 to 3 years is literally as fast as we can do it with the other duties and responsibilities that our firefighters have," Cochran said.

While the door-to-door canvasing efforts are the most labor intensive, Cochran said people who know they have the defective detectors don't have to wait; they can call the Atlanta Smoke Alarm Recall Hotline at 404-546-2733. They also may send an e-mail to: smokealarm@atlantaga.gov to receive an inspection, replacement and installation information. The replacements are free of charge to affected residents.

People coming forward is going to be a key part of the replacement efforts. Although fire officials said they know all of the neighborhoods in which the alarms were distributed and will canvas all of those areas, Cochran said they only have 50 percent of individual street addresses in the department's master list.