TEN years ago, 11 lives were lost in a house fire at Slacks Creek, prompting major changes to smoke alarm laws in the state, which will be enforced from January next year.
A coronial inquest into the house fire found that the smoke alarm had been turned off because it was too noisy.
Residents will remember that one man lost his wife, daughter, three granchildren, sister-in-law and her five children in the fire of August 24, 2011.
The inquest, which was in 2014, was the start of a movement to change the laws – questioning whether all properties should have smoke alarms fitted when they are sold.
It’s now seven years since the inquiry, but changes which come into play next year will have significant implications for landlords, who will be required to upgrade their alarms by the end of December to continue leasing their properties.
However, some landlords are not getting the message or acting quick enough and risk falling out of compliance.
That is the message from property manager Jane Scope from Home Scope.
“A lot of them are being a little bit complacent in waiting until December to do anything,” she said.
She said there is an issue with supply and demand which is extending wait times.
“What we’re hearing from our suppliers is that technicians are overloaded with getting all that into properties, so there’s a backlog and everyone’s trying to get them done before 2022,” she said.
This highlights the importance of starting the sourcing process now, rather than waiting for demand to slow down. Otherwise, there will be problems with renewing leases next year.
“Property managers really need to be on top of this, because it’s going to get to the first of January and leases won’t be able to be renewed because the properties aren’t compliant,” Mrs Scope said.
Alarms in any dwelling being sold, leased, or renewed must be photoelectric, less than 10 years old, and interconnected with every alarm in the dwelling so they activate together.
In multi-storey dwellings, alarms must be in every bedroom, in hallways, or if there are no bedrooms, at least one alarm is needed in the most likely path of exist.
The other key requirement is for alarms to be hardwired or powered by a non-removable battering.
Tenants also have a role in this. They are required to test and clean alarms once every 12 months and not remove alarm batteries or paint or cover them.
At the time of the fire in 2011, there were 14 people living inside the house.
Police reported at the time that they arrived just six minutes after receiving the first 000 call, only to find the building engulfed in flames.
The fire was believed to have started in the downstairs study which was being used as an office.
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