12-02-2025
Who is responsible for smoke alarms in apartment complexes?
PIEDMONT TRIAD, N.C. (WGHP) —
Investigators say the smoke alarm was not working. Since then, the Greensboro Fire Department tells us there have many other apartment complex fires that have taken people's homes from them where there were no smoke alarms.
Matt Groseclose with GFD said, 'We've taken a look at the data over the last four years. We've had 43 people who have been displaced from their rental unit has a result of them not having a smoke alarm in there.'
And then at the end of January, A baby died and her parents were injured during an overnight fire at their duplex in High Point. There was no working smoke detector. High Point Fire Marshal Scott Routh was on the scene. Routh reminds us, 'Smoke detectors are there for early detection. If it starts chirping, call 911 get the fire trucks there.'
State law recognizes the importance of smoke alarms. lists what's required from a landlord for multi-family housing like apartment complexes and includes smoke alarms.
But here's the twist. The law says at 'the beginning of each tenancy' or when someone moves in. After that, the tenant is responsible for making sure the smoke alarm works.
Fire Marshal Routh said, 'If the landlords are going in updating smoke alarms when somebody moves in, we shouldn't have issues but it goes both ways. The way the law is written, it's landlord/ tenant responsibility. The tenant also has to tell the landlord when they have problems with them so they can fix them and replace them but the tenant is responsible for the battery according to the law.'
Under the North Carolina Fire Prevention Code, every multi-family housing complex must be inspected annually, but that inspection doesn't include the actual apartments.
That's why FIre Marshal Routh says it's even more important to check your smoke alarm and make sure it's working.
He said, 'It's not just your individual apartment. It's the apartments around you. It's the apartments above and below you. It's a big decision.'
If you need a smoke alarm, you can contact the American Red Cross.
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