While you may feel safe knowing that the smoke detectors in your home will alert you of impending fires, you can’t always bank on them. Smoke detectors fail to perform all the time, and the results are frequently catastrophic for the family involved.
There are very few defective products that are more dangerous to our lives than a faulty smoke detector. The stakes are just too high. When your smoke detector fails to function properly, you are looking at thousands of dollars of property damage, and potentially serious injuries or even death for one or more family members.
Kidde has been marketing an ionization smoke detector which has malfunctioned on several occasions, leading to numerous injuries and deaths that could have been prevented had the smoke detector worked properly.
Calling this device a “smoke detector” is actually a misnomer. Ionization smoke detectors respond to heat, not smoke. Ionization technology is meant to pick up fast flaming fires that don’t give off very much smoke. Frequently, it will not detect slow smoldering, smoky fires. Unfortunately, these are the most common types of fires that start up in your home. Among them are kitchen fires, grease fires, and electrical fires.
To detect these fires, you really need a photoelectric smoke detector. Unfortunately, while Kidde is marketing their ionization smoke detector as a device that will more effectively warn you of fires in your home, the product is not delivering on this promise. The results have been dire in certain situations, leading several families to file defective product lawsuits against Kidde.
If you or a family member has been injured as a result of a defective product, you should contact an experienced personal injury lawyer, preferably one who specializes in defective products claims. Hiring the right attorney will help you receive fair compensation for your losses.
If you have been injured by a defective Kidde ionization smoke detector in the Mobile, Alabama area, please contact the law offices of Long & Waite today to schedule an initial consultation.
