Newly
built homes or existing homes being sold in the state beginning March 6 will
need to have at least one functioning carbon monoxide alarm. The Buffalo News
reported that the New York State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council put
the regulations into effect more quickly than planned due to the at least 11
people in the state who died from accidental carbon monoxide poisonings since
last October.
The new regulations apply to one- and two-family homes and condos. Once the
regulations take effect, people who have new homes built will need to have a
detector installed before they are issued a certificate of occupancy. And home
sellers will have to sign an affidavit stating that the house has a working
detector.
The regulations do not affect existing homes that are not being sold. But
supporters of the law recommend all homeowners install carbon monoxide alarms to
protect themselves.
The newspaper reported that First Alert is providing 300 carbon monoxide
detectors to low-income residents. And the city is using a $15,000 grant from
the International Association of Black Firefighters to buy an additional 1,600
alarms and smoke detectors.
Industry research shows that less than 30 percent of U.S. homes currently
have carbon monoxide alarms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said
that carbon monoxide causes more fatal accidental poisonings that any other
agent in the United States. Most of those incidents occur in the winter.
