OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Washington Fire Chiefs Association and the Washington State Association of Fire Marshals have issued an advisory warning consumers about the online purchase of certain fire alarms.
The two fire service organizations are asking Amazon, the nation’s largest online retailer, to stop the sale of smoke alarms that are not tested to nationally recognized standards.
The products in question are smoke alarms that do not carry the testing labels from a nationally recognized third-party testing laboratory such as Underwriter Laboratories (UL) or Intertek/ETL, which are the two largest independent safety testing companies for electrical products.
The companies test smoke alarms in accordance with the UL 217 standard. Products not tested to this standard may not accurately detect fire, alarm the consumer in a timely fashion, and operate for the desired time period or other critical functions.
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Several smoke alarm brands have been identified as lacking third-party testing laboratory marks on Amazon, including X-Sense, Arikon and Bovon.
“We are urging Amazon and other online retailers to stop selling smoke alarms and other fire safety products that do not carry the UL or ETL marks, or marks from another third party that has tested the alarms to the UL 217 standard,” Dunaway said. “We are also asking that retailers review their smoke alarm products and remove any non-listed products from their websites immediately.”
