New Smoke Detectors Could Save More Lives

The Yakima Fire Department is launching a campaign this week to get you to think about replacing older smoke detectors with new detectors that are more effective. Deputy Fire Marshal Ron Melcher says 90 percent of smoke detectors now in homes are the type that may not sound in enough time to save your life. Melcher says there's two types of technology used in detectors these days...ionization and photoelectric. He says the new photoelectric detectors can detect smoldering fires much quicker than the an ionization smoke alarms and thus may save your life.