A Canton man is warning homeowners after he survived what could have been a deadly situation.
You could call Tim Burton a handyman. He's a co-owner of Burton and Sons Plumbing, Heating and Cooling and maintaining smoke detectors is just part of the job. But after this week's close call, he wants his customers to pay more attention to fire safety.
Burton went to bed Monday night after burning a faux log in his fireplace. He said it might have been a dud, because it never sparked a good fire.
So he closed the fireplace doors, left the chimney flue open, and went to sleep, like he's done dozens of times before. But about six hours later, Burton woke up coughing, with a bad headache.
He came downstairs to find the house filled with white, hazy smoke.
"Thank God we woke up," Burton said.
The smoke detector that should have warned Burton and his wife about the smoldering log stayed silent.
Burton said he replaced the battery in the hallway smoke detector just a couple of months ago, and it tested fine. Sometime between then and Monday night, it stopped working.
Burton suspects it's because the smoke detector was too old.
The U.S. Fire Administration says most smoke detectors installed today last about eight to 10 years and Burton's was at least 20 years old.
Burton said he and his wife were lucky to survive, and now he is urging others not to overlook this simple housekeeping step.
A good tip is to jot down the date of installation on the side of the smoke detector and to replace them every 10 years.
