Carbon monoxide detectors will now be required in many homes and rental properties in Akron.
Akron City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Monday night requiring carbon monoxide (CO) detectors be installed in residential structures that use fuel-burning appliances.
The legislation comes several weeks after a carbon monoxide leak killed one person and sickened several others in Timber Top Apartments, an apartment community in Akron's Merriman Valley neighborhood.
The goal is to try to prevent drastic situations, like the fatal incident at Timber Top, from happening again, said Ward 1 Councilwoman Nancy Holland, whose jurisdiction includes the apartments.
“If ever there were a situation that we were absolutely dealing with emergency legislation, this is it,” Holland said.
Carbon monoxide poisoning can not only be deadly, but symptoms often come on too fast before the sickened individual has time to seek help, said Clarence Tucker, the city’s deputy mayor for public safety.
Ohio law already requires CO detectors but individual municipalities must formally adopt that provision in their fire codes.
The new law gives the Akron Fire Department the authority to inspect buildings for CO detectors, like they already do with smoke alarms, Tucker said.
“It’s something that I think we should really push to add … with our rules, that we can go out and inspect for,” Tucker said in a recent council committee meeting. “I think it’s something where we need to make it as restrictive as possible.”
Owners and landlords found noncompliant would be subjected to fines or even criminal penalties depending on the violation, according to officials in the city’s law department.
The fire department could enforce the ordinance by receiving and investigating complaints about buildings that are not compliant, said Gert Wilms, Mayor Dan Horrigan’s chief of staff, but added that fire officials cannot enter a property without the owner’s consent.
Owners could have a 30-day grace period to get detectors installed, and city officials will play a big role in spreading the word to residents, Wilms added.
“We are going to do what we can to make sure everybody knows of this new legislation, give them an opportunity to comply with the legislation, and again, remind everybody – this is an opportunity to definitely modernize our code, but to save lives. That’s ultimately what the goal is here,” Wilms said.
The legislation applies to both new and already existing structures.
