Local firefighter honored by state
UXBRIDGE – An Uxbridge firefighter whose research and testing of a particular brand of smoke and carbon monoxide detector led to a national recall of more than 5.1 million detectors was honored last week at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security's 28th annual Firefighter of the Year Awards ceremony in Worcester.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Secretary Daniel Bennett and state Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey gave out awards last Tuesday to 21 fire departments, including Uxbridge Deputy Fire Chief Steve Tancrell, who was presented with the Norman Knight Award for Excellence in Community Service by Gov. Baker.
“The Commonwealth’s firefighters make tremendous sacrifices and risk their lives on a regular basis to protect the members of their communities,” said Governor Baker.
“We are proud to salute this year’s award recipients, who drew upon their training and experience to perform remarkable acts that saved lives.”
“Our firefighters deserve our thanks and praise every day of the year, and it is important to recognize the incredible acts of bravery performed by these public servants in cities and towns across Massachusetts,” added Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “Whether battling house fires or educating children and seniors on fire prevention and safety, we are grateful for their selfless acts.”
Tancrell was awarded for his efforts in finding, researching, testing and communicating a problem with a particular smoke detector that would cause it not to work without any type of alert saying it was not working. His efforts began the process that ended with the recall of 5.1 million Kidde Combination Smoke/Carbon Monoxide detectors in the United States and Canada. The detector is model KNCOSM-IB with a manufactured date of June 2004 through December 2010.
It started in 2015, when Tancrell checked a hard-wired Kidde Model KN-COSM1B in a local home and found it not to be working. Tancrell does home inspections for the department when a home in the community is going to be sold and makes it a point to check all detection systems as required under state fire codes.
It was when he did a second inspection two days later and found a similar problem with a Kidde Model KNCOSM-1B that Tancrell began to think there might be some type of problem with the units.
The dual alarm is wired in for AC power and has a battery backup that can be replaced by a homeowner if they suspect it needs to be done, according to Tancrell.