Manitou Park Fire Company Receives Complaints about Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Manitou Park Volunteer Fire company has received many complaints about its carbon monoxide alarms in the Holiday City and Silver Ridge communities. The detectors in these areas are generating false alarms, as their sensors in the monitoring system have become obsolete, according to the officials.

The carbon monoxide detectors were supplied to the homeowners in the year 2003 under the New Jersey Natural Gas home-energy audits. Former chief of Manitou Park Fire Company, Patrick Piccoli, said the detectors are now defunct. If the detectors are more than five years old, the residents should replace them, he noted.

Homeowners are generally told to change the batteries of detectors once in a year, but they are unaware that the detectors should be replaced periodically. Lifetime of electrochemical cells is usually five years. Environmental contamination including sprays or odors also contributes to the degradation of the sensors.