Special Report: Alarming Delay

Christmas time in Vermont, a devastating fire leaves four children and their mother dead.

Deputy Chief Russ Ashe, Barre, Vermont Fire Department

"There was no doubt in our mind that the people were savable and it just didn't turn out that way."

Firefighters remember the terrible scene.

Matt Cetin, Barre, Vermont firefighter
"There was fire blowing out the first and second window."

And in the aftermath, firefighters say they made a shocking and sad discovery; They say the family's smoke alarms never went off.

Matt Cetin, Barre, Vermont firefighter
"Why was the family not woken up quicker, why did they not get out in time?"

Deputy Chief Ashe and his department say the answer has to do with the type of smoke alarm the family owned. It's the one found in most homes.

Many people do not know that there are two very different types of smoke alarms and which one you have in your home could mean the difference between life and death.

Photoelectric smoke alarms detect smoldering, smoky fires, the most common kind of fire at night and often the result of electrical shorts or careless cigarettes. Ionization smoke alarms are designed to detect flaming fires.

Deputy Chief Russ Ashe, Barre, Vermont Fire Department
"Ionization smoke alarms are very bad at detecting smoldering fires."

To see the dramatic difference 7News put the detectors to the test with the help of firefighters in Barre, Vermont.

Matt Cetin, Barre, Vermont firefighter
"This is a real house, a real couch, real material you would find in a house."

Inside this room, we placed several detectors, including two ionization and two photoelectric. And we also put in two dual sensor detectors that have both technologies inside.

Matt Cetin, Barre, Vermont firefighter
"Using a soldering iron what we're simulating is a cigarette dropping in a couch."

Minutes into the test we can see and smell the smoke. After about 10 minutes both dual sensor detectors sound.

Matt Cetin, Barre, Vermont firefighter
"You would have been able to get the kids out, get your family out."

Four minutes later, the fire has been smoldering for about 14 minutes and both photoelectric smoke detectors go off. But still no sound from the ionization detectors.

Matt Cetin, Barre, Vermont firefighter
"This is very realistic of what is going to happen in homes all across this country."

What's more frightening, nearly an hour into the fire, the ionization detectors still haven't sounded.

Deputy Chief Russ Ashe, Barre, Vermont Fire Department
"We could have made those smoke alarms go off eventually, but this place would have been so full of smoke you couldn't have seen your hand."

Firefighters say this kind of delay can be deadly.

Matt Cetin, Barre, Vermont firefighter
"Forty-five minutes can mean the difference in living and dying in a house fire."

For the family in Vermont, having the wrong kind of smoke detector was a death sentence. No alarm meant almost no chance for survival.

Deputy Chief Russ Ashe, Barre, Vermont Fire Department
"Somebody is going to die tonight because they don't have photoelectric smoke alarms in their homes."

Firefighters want to be clear: having any kind of smoke detector in your home is better than having none at all. But the safest bet for your family is to either have the dual sensor detectors or to have both types of smoke detectors.

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