Fire safety – a must for renters

It’s the middle of the night. You’re asleep in your bedroom, when you’re suddenly jolted… It’s the middle of the night. You’re asleep in your bedroom, when you’re suddenly jolted upright by frantic pounding and desperate screaming at the front door of your Oakland apartment. You open the door to find a neighbor standing in front of a curtain of fire.

Your building’s on fire and you could very well have slept right through it.

It’s exactly what happened to the residents of 6 Melba Place early Sunday morning. And it could easily happen to the many students who inhabit the so-called student slums surrounding the University.

The residents of 6 Melba Place should have been awakened by piercing sounds of the smoke detectors in their apartment. Instead, they were at the mercy of neighbors.

Oakland, like other residential city neighborhoods, is prone to fires – both accidental and purposeful. The proximity of buildings, which may or may not be well maintained, contributes to the risk. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, alcohol is also strongly associated with fires.

By law, landlords are required to install and maintain smoke detectors in apartments. Yet, many Oakland landlords neglect this duty – leaving renters in danger. Renters exacerbate this potential risk by disconnecting detectors or failing to test them.

Clearly renters must take safety into their own hands. As this incident demonstrates, fires happen and it’s just dangerous to assume the landlord has everything in working order.

Renters should check their apartments to see if there are smoke detectors at all and if there are detectors installed in all the necessarily places. Every bedroom should have a detector. It’s also advisable to place detectors in hallways.

Renters must also test the detectors. Just because the detector is there doesn’t mean it’s functional. Replacing a battery or notifying the landlord of smoke detector wiring problems could be in order.

If the apartment does not have any or an adequate number of detectors, contact the landlord with your concerns and remind him or her of their legal obligation. If the landlord doesn’t respond promptly or refuse to remedy the situation, take measures into your own hands. According to Home Depot (www.homedepot.com), various battery-powered smoke detectors cost less than $20 – cheap when you consider what’s at stake. Send a copy of the receipt to your landlord.

Additionally, renters should reconnect any detectors they’ve disabled. It might be appealing to disconnect detectors if they sound frequently. Detectors close to kitchens or steamy bathrooms may certainly cause headaches, but the increased risk, especially considering the likelihood of a fire starting in those areas, isn’t worth it.

It’s been a long time since students were taught to “stop, drop and roll.” For renters, it’s time to update their fire safety precautions by taking action to ensure they have enough functional smoke detectors.