Can You Hear Your Smoke Detector?

Smoke detectors only work if one hears them.  A deaf or hearing-impaired tenant in Texas now may ask his or her landlord to install a “visual smoke alarm”; the landlord must purchase and install the alarm in the tenant’s bedroom, at the landlord’s expense.  If a deaf and blind tenant requests, the landlord must install a “bed-shake” fire alarm for that tenant.  If anyone in the household requires these devices for safety, including children, the tenant may ask the landlord to install them in the appropriate bedrooms. 

Sephra Burks’ Bill, Texas SB 1715, went into effect on January 1, 2010.  It was named in memory of Sephra Burks, who died in a 2005 apartment fire along with two of her children.  Sephra and her husband were both deaf.  A fire started in their living room and spread quickly throughout the apartment.  Her husband had fallen asleep in front of the television downstairs.  When he awoke, he was able to rescue two of their children, but could not rescue his wife and the remaining children.  A visual smoke alarm might have alerted Sephra upstairs to the danger in time to save their lives.

A visual smoke alarm is similar in size to a normal smoke detector, but it has a light that flashes when the alarm is activated.  For deaf-blind individuals, a smoke alarm bed shaker is available to alert them to the danger.

A tenant should request the visual smoke alarm or smoke alarm bed shaker from his or her landlord in writing.  Include the reason for the request (for example, deaf, hearing-impaired or deaf-blind).  The tenant should keep a dated photocopy of the request.  The landlord must comply with the request in a reasonable amount of time.  The landlord may request documentation proving the need for the devices, such as the results of a hearing or vision test or a statement from the tenant’s physician.  They landlord may not demand any medical information unrelated to the request.

Burks’ Bill applies to any “home, mobile home, duplex unit, apartment unit, condominium unit, or any dwelling unit in a multiunit residential structure” or to “one or more rooms rented for use as a permanent residence under a single lease to one or more tenants.” 

Tenants whose landlords do not comply with their request can seek help from Advocacy, Inc, (www.advocacyinc.org).  Landlords wanting more information on the new law can go to www.taa.org, the Texas Apartment Association.

Dee Bergan, E-Senior Services