Sunshine Coast Hinterland Times

Stop the Children Burning is a must-see documentary by local film maker, Peter Enright, exposing the devastating truth about the fire alarms most of us have in our homes. It tells the stories of three families who tragically relied on the most common type of smoke alarm, the ionization type.

Adrian Butler of the World Fire Safety Foundation holds up a dangerous battery-powered ionisation smoke alarm

THIS documentary exposes the fraud and corruption that has led to millions of people around the world installing the wrong type of smoke alarm in the mistaken belief that they are protected from fire.

ABS figures reveal that every year there are over 10,000 house fires in Australia, causing more than 1,500 injuries and 110 deaths. Enright’s film exposes the marketing sham of ionisation alarms for detecting smoke fires.

Peter Enright has collaborated with the World Fire Safety Organisation to produce this hard-hitting and confronting film. He interviewed numerous families who had lost loved ones, particularly children in house fires and was horrified to learn that these tragedies could have been prevented if the correct alarms had been installed.

For over 30 years, smoke detector manufacturers have deliberately created a false sense of security by claiming that ionisation smoke alarms – the most common type – will alert us in time to prevent death, injury and our homes destroyed.

Because burning toast, cooking fumes and other household vapours instantly set these alarms off, we are falsely led to believe that these units are also sensitive to other kinds of smoke.

Sean and Anita Cohen who lost two of their own children and two of Sean’s brother’s children.

The reality is that the ionisation unit is activated by tiny particles of a specific size, not the smoke itself, whereas photoelectric units detect a change in the light level and respond much faster.

The most deadly house fires occur at night, usually caused by electrical faults and produce toxic smouldering fumes that are inhaled by sleeping occupants. In most cases, this type of smoke will not activate ionisation alarms until the house is well alight and by that time it is too late to save people, possessions or property.

Ionisation alarms have a demonstrated failure rate of 75%!

Test room set alight for the documentary film

“With the correct knowledge, fire deaths are entirely preventable,” says Peter Enright. “Everyone thinks that it will never happen to them, including every family that I interviewed for this documentary.

“I aim to reach as many people as possible about the urgent need to replace their ionisation smoke alarms with photoelectric ones, the type that actually work. My ultimate goal is to have ionisation alarms banned in Australia.”

Even though there is a 15% increase in the past two years of the installation of fire alarms across Australia, the number of fire deaths has not decreased, making it abundantly clear that changes in smoke detector standards need to be made.

The film also highlights the health risks posed by the radioactive material contained within ionisation alarms and the urgent need for an environmentally responsible policy for the disposal of these units.

‘Stop the Children Burning’, is being screened across the Sunshine Coast over the following months.

Alternatively visit the website for full details www.planetfiresafety.com.au

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