Fire Marshal wants delay on deadline for carbon monoxide alarms

BOSTON --State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said Wednesday he would ask state lawmakers to extend the year-end deadline for hospitals, prisons, hotels and other institutions to comply with a new law requiring installation of carbon monoxide alarms.

Coan said there are still regulations to be hammered out related to "Nicole's Law," which already requires owners of most permanent residential homes to have alarms.

"There's no way around it," Coan said of the need for an extension. "We want to make sure it's done right."

The law was named for 7-year-old Nicole Garofalo, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in January 2005 after snow covered a vent connected to the propane boiler at her family's Plymouth home.

By April of this year, homes with fossil fuel-burning equipment were required to have a battery-operated or plug-in detector. The law is enforced by fire departments when they inspect homes on the sale or transfer of a property, or when significant renovations are done.

Larger buildings currently have until Jan. 1 to comply. But Coan said places such as nursing homes, motels, and prisons need more time. He said he would support up to a one-year extension "at the very, very most."

The regulations for those types of facilities haven't been established, he said, because of debate over how the law should be implemented.

"I don't think they could have (begun installation) because they really wouldn't have any idea what type of protection to put in or how expensive that protection would be until the board promulgates regulations," he said.

Carbon monoxide, an odorless gas, is responsible for about 500 accidental deaths nationwide every year, according to government figures. Signs include dizziness and headaches.

Coan said he expects the state Board of Fire Prevention Regulations to vote within a month in favor of asking the Legislature for an extension.