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Regan Zambri Long’s Washington, DC smoke alarm malfunction lawyers have played a direct role in shaping fire safety standards, including litigation that helped change Maryland law to require smoke detectors to be hard-wired into residential properties. Our attorneys bring almost 200 years of combined experience to representing individuals and families harmed by breakdowns in basic safety systems and work closely with leading fire investigators, engineers, and medical experts to determine how and why a smoke alarm failed.
Since 1997, we have achieved over $1 billion in personal injury recoveries, and clients continue to place their trust in our team, as reflected in more than 100 5 star Google reviews. Recognized as one of America’s Best Law Firms, we are an award-winning personal injury firm whose board-certified partners are all named among the nation’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers.
Have you or a loved one been injured in a fire linked to a smoke alarm malfunction? Contact Regan Zambri Long today, and one of our attorneys will get back to you personally. We’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and we front all case costs, so there’s no fee unless we win your case.
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Each state has its own laws concerning the number and placement of smoke alarms in residential and commercial properties. However, most areas have regulations that require landlords and property owners to maintain smoke detectors throughout buildings.
For example, Washington, DC premises liability law requires:
Therefore, if you rent or lease a home or apartment, then your landlord or the property owner may be responsible for complying with these laws. However, property owners sometimes neglect these rules. In some cases, a building may have alarms in the proper places, but they may not have batteries or power. Consequently, if you sustain injuries in a fire due to lack of a proper fire alarm, then you may have grounds for a premises liability claim against the owner.
National data shows that smoke alarms are present in the vast majority of U.S. homes, with a 2024 study commissioned by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on the use and functionality of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in households finding that 98.6% of households have smoke alarms installed. However, the same study found that only 54.9% of households have carbon monoxide alarms, and the presence of alarms alone does not guarantee they will work as intended.
The study also found that while most households believe they are protected, only 84% of U.S. households have at least one fully functional smoke or carbon monoxide alarm. The remaining 16% of households are considered at risk, largely because the alarms present do not work, rather than because alarms are entirely missing.
Therefore, if you rent or lease a home or apartment, then your landlord or the property owner may be responsible for complying with these laws. However, property owners sometimes neglect these rules. In some cases, a building may have alarms in the proper places, but they may not have batteries or power. Consequently, if you sustain injuries in a fire due to lack of a proper fire alarm, then you may have grounds for a premises liability claim against the owner.
Landlords and other building owners may neglect these rules by failing to install or service alarms. Additionally, some smoke alarms contain dangerous product defects which prevent them from working when they should. In either case, without the warning of a smoke detector, building occupants may be trapped in a fire. This can cause severe burn injuries, smoke inhalation, and possibly wrongful death.
The consequences of smoke alarm failures are well documented. According to the National Fire Protection Association, 59% of home fire deaths occur in properties where there were no smoke alarms present or where smoke alarms failed to operate, with 43% involving homes without alarms and another 16% tied to alarms that did not work when needed.
If you were hurt or lost a loved one in a fire due to defective smoke detectors, then you may have a claim against the property owner and/or the device manufacturer. The attorneys at Regan Zambri Long have almost 200 years of collective experience with both product liability and premises liability law. We can work with investigators to find the circumstances that caused the fire and the reason your smoke detector failed.
Negligence during the design or manufacturing process of a smoke alarm may result in a dangerously defective product.
These alarms may malfunction, failing to work properly or work at all. Additionally, some manufacturers fail to adequately warn consumers of a device’s known drawbacks. For example, there are two general types of smoke detectors: photoelectric and ionization alarms. The mechanism of an ionization detector may make it less likely to sense a smolder or slow-burning fire. In some cases, this can cause a delay of 20 minutes or more before the alarm sounds. This can be particularly dangerous, as slow-burning fires may cause serious smoke inhalation injuries. However, many manufacturers do not include warning labels about this risk of ionization smoke detectors.
In these cases, you may be able to file a product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer for your burn injuries and other damages. Depending on the circumstances, you may have grounds for a claim based on defects, failure to warn, and/or breach of warranty. However, demonstrating a fire alarm defect in a lawsuit can be difficult, especially if it sustained fire or water damage. A Washington, DC personal injury lawyer can work with industry experts to examine the detector and determine why it failed.
Few law firms can point to a direct role in shaping fire safety law itself. Regan Zambri Long played a significant part in changing Maryland law to require smoke detectors to be hard-wired into a home’s electrical system, a reform driven by hard-fought litigation that exposed the dangers of inadequate alarm design and installation. That case was not an easy win. It involved years of litigation and adverse rulings across three appellate courts before ultimately producing a result that improved safety standards and accountability.
The case was led by senior partner Patrick Regan, whose career has centered on high-impact negligence, product liability, and mass tort litigation on behalf of catastrophically injured clients. Patrick, along with the firm’s other two founding partners, is board certified in Civil Trial Law and Civil Trial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. As one of the most respected personal injury attorneys in the country, Patrick is a fellow of several invitation-only legal organizations, including the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Trial Advocates, and the International Society of Barristers. He has also served as President of the District of Columbia Trial Lawyers Association, alongside partners Salvatore Zambri, Victor Long, and Paul Cornoni.
Our firm’s leadership has been widely recognized. Patrick Regan has been named Best Lawyers’ Lawyer of the Year three times. Salvatore Zambri has been honored as Lawyer of the Year for Product Liability Litigation, and Paul Cornoni has received the same distinction on two occasions.
All three partners are named among the Top 100 Super Lawyers in Washington, DC. Patrick and Salvatore have also been inducted into Washingtonian Magazine’s lifetime achievement honor roll, with the publication describing Patrick as “one of the most successful advocates for clients in negligence,” and Salvatore as “one of Washington’s best, most honest and effective lawyers.”
That experience has translated into results. Over the past three decades, we have recovered dozens of multimillion-dollar personal injury settlements and verdicts, including eight-figure awards in product liability and premises liability cases involving fire hazards and safety failures, such as:
If a smoke detector malfunction caused your injuries or a loved one’s wrongful death, then contact our law firm today. We can investigate the alarm and the premises on your behalf. Once we determine whether the property owner and/or manufacturer may be responsible, we can assist you in filing a lawsuit. We serve clients in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, and other states.
Call (202) 960-4596 or contact us online today to speak to an attorney and schedule a free consultation.
Regan Zambri Long Personal Injury Lawyers, PLLC
1919 M St NW Suite 600,
Washington, DC 20036
Have you or your loved one sustained injuries in Washington DC, Maryland or Virginia? Regan Zambri Long PLLC has the best lawyers in the country to analyze your case and answer the questions you may have.