Majority Leader Flanagan Announces New Law To Protect New York Families

To help ensure that families throughout New York State are better protected from the dangers of house fires, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (2^nd Senate District) announced that important legislation he sponsored has been signed into law.  The law would require every smoke alarm sold in New York State be equipped with a non-removable, non-replaceable battery that powers the device for a minimum for ten years.  This will help ensure that these lifesaving devices are operational for a longer period of time and hopefully save lives.

According to the legislation, since smoke alarms were first required by New York State in 1961, deaths due to fire have been cut in half.  Additionally, data regarding fire deaths show that most deaths due to fire today happen in homes with no smoke alarms or no working alarms.

Those facts were essential in Senator Flanagan’s efforts to ensure that alarms installed in New York homes operate for a longer period of time, without constant maintenance, to better protect families. 

“Too many families in our state have suffered the loss of a loved one due to a fire emergency and this new law is aimed at protecting New Yorkers from this pain.  The data is crystal clear in how essential smoke detectors are in saving lives.  It is critical that all homeowners who do purchase these devices in our state are able to trust them for a full decade,” stated Majority Leader Flanagan.  “The goal is to help New Yorkers protect their homes and their families and this legislation is a great step in that effort.”

“We would like to thank State Senator John Flanagan for his leadership on this critical issue.  Simply put, his efforts in passing this legislation will help save lives in New York State,” said FASNY President Robert McConville.  “We’ve seen time and again that working smoke alarms can be the difference between life and death.  Together, State Senator Flanagan, Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, and Governor Andrew Cuomo have succeeded in making New York a safer place to live.”

Over the operational life of the devices, the new law could potentially save homeowners money by eliminating the need for replacement batteries every six months.  After the ten year operational time period of the device, a new smoke alarm device would need to be purchased as a replacement.

The new law will go into effect in April of 2019 once an agreed upon chapter amendment between the Governor, the Senate and the Assembly is approved.

The new law will not apply to devices which have been ordered or that are in inventory when the law goes into effect.  It will not impact devices that are powered through electrical systems, fire alarm systems with smoke alarms, fire alarm devices that connect to a panel or other devices with low-power radio frequency wireless communication signal.  Additionally, the upcoming amendment will provide the state fire administrator through its regulatory process with the ability to designate other devices that are exempt from the legislation.