3316 Smoke Alarms

If it makes you happy, get the children to bring one out with them from the UK!

My guess is that you don't see smoke alarms in Italy because the traditional finishes and furnishings are pretty well incombustible. Few people go in for curtains, fitted carpets: few people have boarded floors, or ceilings or roofs which are made from anything other than (basically, from the fire point of view) reinforced concrete. It would be extremely difficult for even the most dedicated arsonist to set fire to a traditionally constructed Italian building, and even more difficult to cause an inflagration in a modern building!

But - given the low cost of a battery operated smoke alarm - it probably makes sense to have one!!

Smoke detectors were an item on my list of things to investigate in preparation for renovating a house. The points made about how few things are flammable in a traditional Italian house seemed valid to me, but I spent a couple of minutes looking for comparitative statistics on fatalities due to fire.

Found some [URL="http://www.looksmartfirstaid.com/p/articles/mi_m0KZE/is_1171_96/ai_97252487/pg_2?pi=helaid"]here[/URL].

According to those figures, Italy is well below average for Europe and has about half as many deaths due to fire as the UK, but there were still -- by my admitedly suspect calculations -- over 400 deaths attributed to fire every year in the 1990s.

I believe most domestic fires in Britain are due, in one way or another, to smoking. I assume the same would be true in Italy. I also assume that in both countries, almost all deaths are actually caused by inhaling smoke from burning or smouldering soft furnishings, not incineration as the structure of the house goes up in flames.

Since I don't smoke and I'll be asking houseguests not to smoke inside, I'm still not sure if it's really worthwhile installing smoke detectors. But, as Relaxed says, given that you can get one for just a few quid, it does seem a sensible thing to do.

Now, how about carbon dioxide detectors...?

Al

I have a holiday home I let to friends and family (its not for profit any goes to an orpanage in Cambodia the end of the year its more just covers the costs of laundry garden etc) but I bought a smoke alarm in this country and took it out leave a supply of batteries at the place - its not like UK where my house fire alarm is wired up to the electrics - I think I need a fire blanket will look into that no idea if they are on sale.Its just I have lots of bottled gas in the house and well bit scared the place will go on fire -bottled gas coooker etc.

I think you are sensible to be concerned about gas bottles - necessary though they are - and if I was offered the choice of a gas detector at the same sort of price as a smoke detector, it is the gas detector I would go for every time!

You can certainly get fire extinguishers and fire blankets here (though they tend to be found only in specialist outlets - who might well do smoke detectors too) - the key word to look for in the yellow pages is "antincedio".

Interesting thing about gas bottles - they put a smell in them, which is heavier than the liquid gas, and so the smell is only apparent when the bottle has nearly run out! Useful to know, because frequently people think they have a gas leak when they don't - or haven't understood this arcane language of "smell means you need a new bottle", so they run out of flame in the middle of boiling the pasta.

thats helped solve the smell from one of my fires thats now been put into the barn when all it needs is a new gas bottle
thank you

We had great rouble finding them so ended up bringing some over; as for finding a fire blanket or extinguisher, pah! The looks we got at the local store when we asked!

(though that may have been by bad pronunciation!)

Yes they do have them but they cost about E30 each so buy them in UK. They claim not to have as many house fires here as said in a previous post due to tiles instead of carpets etc, but I still think its a good idea to have them especially if you are letting your property, and fire extinguishers. The fire stations are few and far between!

Brought a fire blanket and 'kitchen' fire extinguisher over from England [B&Q].

Didn't get smoke alarms - thought the large open log fire would set it off all the time - and anyway, with tiled floors, stone walls and concrete ceilings - there didn't seem a lot to set fire to.

[QUOTE=Carol and Dave]I haven't seen any smoke alarms in houses and, although I haven't looked specifically, I don't think I've seen them in DIY stores. Does anyone know if they are not used in Italy? I'd have thought that with all the open fires it would be a good idea to have a smoke alarm. If they are not available in Italy. I'll get my kids to bring one out next time they come. What have otheres found?
Carol[/QUOTE]
As an authorized business with all the obligations to EU norms etc we do not have any obligation for these neither do we have them .We do have a gas sensor in the kitchen,we do have extinguishers of various types.I always notice in the uk the presence of fires/fire engines on the go etc Relaxed is right no curtains ,no carpets,no wooden floors,small use of nylon fabrics makes italian houses more fire safe evidently,most fires in this country are due to gas.I wouldn't bother if i were you.

If you have a large gas tank (buried in the garden or above ground) you are obliged (at least in my area) to have a least one substantial fire extinguisher, and this extinguisher should be inspected annually (and kept within its sell by date).
The little extinguishers which are designed for cars are also a nice thing to have about the house, and don't cost much.

Thanks for all the advice. I can see that the structure of Italian houses makes them less of a fire risk than English ones with carpets, curtains etc. Actually the nearest we have come to a fire is when one of the dogs got too close to the log fire and started to quietly smoulder. It gives a whole new meaning to 'put the dog out!'
Carol

[QUOTE=Carol and Dave]Thanks for all the advice. I can see that the structure of Italian houses makes them less of a fire risk than English ones with carpets, curtains etc. Actually the nearest we have come to a fire is when one of the dogs got too close to the log fire and started to quietly smoulder. It gives a whole new meaning to 'put the dog out!'
Carol[/QUOTE]

Do you know, it's these little asides that I love about this forum, off to smile all day about the dog (Hot Dog for lunch maybe...) :) :) ;)