Detectors Causing Harm
People around the world live in a very dangerous, harmful world with many things that can go wrong. One of the most dangerous things people have that are potentially dangerous is smoke detectors. Detectors, whether it is for smoke, heat, or carbon monoxide, go unnoticed every day and are not even thought to be harmful or potentially dangerous. The beeping pieces of plastic on your ceiling could turn into a hazard if not cared for or thought about daily. Detectors do have many benefits if properly used, and can save many lives annually. But detectors do have dangers that it is trying to prevent. They have the risk of not alerting when there is a threat of fire or smoke, or could start a fire itself.
It may seem like these detectors are a benefit, considering fire departments and fire protection agencies hand them out. But the risk starts if installation of the product is not efficient and installed properly. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s “Considerations For Installation Of Smoke Alarms On Residential Branch Circuits“, the proper installation of a detector is essential in order to decrease the risk of fires starting from detectors. Shortages, overheating wires and overloaded circuits can start a fire at any time if installation is not done correctly. Wires overheating due to excess current in the detector is a main issue that does cause electrical fires.
As the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission also states, there are some techniques being used to cut down electrical fires. Fuses are now being put into place so if overheating does occur, a fuse will be set off, not allowing any more current to go through the circuit. Overheating would be hard to catch, but a small fuse does make it easier to prevent any fires from starting from your detectors.
Short circuits are a common cause of fires, which a detector can do. According to Elizabeth McGrath’s “What Causes Short Circuits“, a short circuit occurs when part of a wire carrying current touches another wire or part of the circuit and gives the electricity a path of less resistance. For example, if a wire with faulty insulation becomes exposed and touches a metal light switch, current can flow along the light switch and result in a shock. Short circuits will produce more heat in a circuit and results in burns and electrical fires.
Something else that can actually cause a fire are the batteries used to power the detectors. But in many incidences, an ordinary item that may be found in your “junk drawer” may have a higher risk of catching fire than you think. Fire Protection Team writes that if a metal object touches the posts of the batteries, the battery may short circuit, which creates enough heat to start a fire. There have been reports of this across the country of these batteries actually starting a fire, and enough that homeowners are launching a campaign to provide awareness of this unexpected hazard.
But new technology creates a better way to prevent this also. McGrath states that a short circuit will cause your household breaker to trip, allowing you to see something was shorted out. But there are still some risks and dangers even with this technology and advancing improvements. Internal shortages can happen within your ceiling, which are harder to spot and can lead to a fire if it is not noticed fast enough.
It is sometimes hard to believe that a device used to alert you of a fire is actually causing them. There have been some reported fires that have started due to a detector, which have not been researched to see what actually caused the fire. An article titled “Fire services on alert after smoke detector is blamed for causing Two blazes” published by Daily Mail, provides two cases in the United Kingdom where smoke detectors caught fire inside houses. Fire investigators on the case say they are on the side of caution because of these incidents and are taking the situation very seriously. These detectors were installed by fire services for a fire prevention safety campaign.
Poor maintenance and upkeep of detectors can be a major role in your family’s fire safety. What some do not know is that even hardwired detectors have a battery which is used for backup purposes. If electricity is lost in your household and that backup battery is dead, there will be no way in knowing if there is smoke in your house or not.
A deadly example of this is in an article written by Bruce Krasnow, titled “Fire Starts During Annual Smoke Detector Warning…“, which states that a fire started in a house that did not have smoke detectors at all, which may have saved the lives of four children. Fire investigators said that the fire was smoldering long before it ignited, and if a detector was present, the four children would have been alerted and would have been able to get out safely. It is a tragic story that did not need to happen if a smoke detector was properly installed in the home.
This seems strange to think about. No one would think that a device used to alert individuals that there is fire, could be the reason the fire starts in the first place. As a fire fighter, I would not think this at all because of the positives I see, and what many others see also. We all see that blinking red light and hear that loud beep, but never do think about if it is doing more bad than good.
References
Brooke, C. (2011, November 08). Fire services on alert after smoke detector is blamed for causing TWO blazes. Retrieved February 13, 2018 from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2058922/Firefighters-forced-stop-handing-smoke-alarms-catches-alight-nearly-burns-house.html
Krasnow, B. S. w. (1995, October 29). FIRE STARTS DURING ANNUAL SMOKE DETECTOR WARNING OFFICIALS URGE PEOPLE TO CHECK BATTERIES WHILE CHANGING CLOCKS. Retrieved February 13, 2018 from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.rowan.edu/docview/394791605/abstract/4BF70D91880C41AFPQ/1?accountid=13605
Lee, A., & Lee, D. (2005, October). Considerations For Installation Of Smoke Alarms On Residential Branch Circuits. Retrieved February 13, 2018 from https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/acfismoke.pdf
McGrath, E. (2017, July 11). What Causes Short Circuits?. Retrieved February 13, 2018 from https://www.thespruce.com/what-causes-short-circuits-4118973
Nichols, B. (2014, June 30). How 9-Volt Batteries Can be a Home Hazard. Retrieved February 13, 2018 from http://fireprotectiontesting.com/dangers-of-9-volt-batteries/
Rowan Counterintuitive 
This is strong stuff, LB, and a fine first draft that can only become better with a few improvements in strategy and phrasing.
Your phrasing causes confusion in some places. I will cite two examples.
I see no way to read this sentence other that to conclude that we are both certain AND uncertain that the detector was the cause of the fire.
This sentence pretty clearly claims that the absence of detectors saved the lives of four children.
I can help you find other examples if these aren’t enough to help you detect the others. Just ask.
I wonder if you might consider a stronger, more direct opening, LB. I have two suggestions to intrigue your readers. One would be to start simply but alarmingly: When you’re ready, let’s count the ways a smoke detector can start a fire in our homes. Then you’d name the flaws in design that can lead to fire and spend the rest of the article delivering on the promises you make in your opening.
Another, less direct, but equally intriguing beginning is the startling example that proves itself. You demonstrate your familiarity with this technique in a couple of places when you use evidence of solutions to prove that there is a problem. You say, for example, that homeowners want warnings possible battery failures. Suppose you began your essay by saying that tiny fuses are being installed in the newest smoke detectors to cut them off from house power when they short. (Yeah, so? your reader responds very briefly.) Without those fuses, which are missing in 99 percent of smoke detectors currently on the market, short circuits can turn detectors into blazing balls of melting plastic fed by a relentless stream of house current. That should compel readers to move along to sentence three!
Are these helpful first-round notes, LB?
If you respond, I’ll quickly learn that you value feedback.
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Thank you very much for the feedback.I will use all of this to create a better second essay with a stronger opening and fix the wording in a few sentences.
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Good deal. Let me know when you’d like a review of your new draft.
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Use for WED MAR 28 for Rhetoric workshop.
It is sometimes hard to believe that a device used to alert you of a fire is actually causing them. There have been some reported fires that have started due to a detector, which have not been researched to see what actually caused the fire. An article titled “Fire services on alert after smoke detector is blamed for causing Two blazes” published by Daily Mail, provides two cases in the United Kingdom where smoke detectors caught fire inside houses. Fire investigators on the case say they are on the side of caution because of these incidents and are taking the situation very seriously. These detectors were installed by fire services for a fire prevention safety campaign.
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Thanks, LB. I’ve copied the paragraph and recorded your reply.
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