Cambridgeshire Fire Service warns over smoke alarms

More than 3,000 households in Cambridgeshire have been warned of an "extremely small" risk their smoke alarms may catch fire.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) has written to households which received a free FireAngel ST-620 from its officers.

The service said it was made aware of a potential issue by the manufacturer.

CFRS said the risk of fire was because of "a well known and documented issue with all Lithium batteries".

Deputy chief fire officer Chris Strickland said the fire risk could only occur if the battery was dislodged "and as a result suffered a lasting short circuit which could cause it to overheat".

'Fitted correctly'

He added: "We have [contacted every affected household] because we believe that any risk, however small, should be completely removed.

"We have also worked closely with the manufacturer to ensure that the risk of battery short circuit in new batches of the smoke detectors has been completely removed."

The fire service said only the households it had written to needed to replace their alarms.

Graham Whitworth, chairman and CEO of SPRU Safety Products which designs and manufactures the FireAngel ST-620, said: "Our smoke alarms are independently tested and fully certified to all relevant European standards.

"As long as the alarms are fitted correctly they are perfectly safe.

"Any incidences of Lithium batteries malfunctioning have been proven by an independent forensic laboratory to have been caused by third party/user intervention."