Only 1 smoke detector in a 3BR apartment in MN?

Question

Hi so I was looking at the ceiling (dont ask why I zoned out) and I noticed that I dont have a smoke detector in my room there isnt one in my brothers room or my dad's room nor in the kitchen or living/dining room, there is one in the whole apartment (it is a one level), then I looked outside and there is one smoke detector outside right in between us and our 2 nieghboors, is there anything I can do maybe report this as this just doesnt seem safe I remember when I live in our house that we had one in each room (3) one at the top of the stares and on in the loft, any advice is well taken THANK YOU FOR READING

Answer 1

The owner was probably required to put one in.Codes are minimum requirements if you want more just buy some and put them in.If you report the owner probably nothing will get done since he/she is probably within code.

Answer 2

Wow, when you lived in your house, you had one in each room?  We only had one for the entire house and most homes I know are like that.  Don't worry--a 3 bedroom apartment isn't very big!  One should be plenty.

Answer 3

one detector in each sleeping area and one in adjoining areas (like the hallway between the bedrooms

Answer 4

MInneapolis requires 1 smoke detector for each bedroom and 1 on each floor in a common area. If you want to report this, you should first go to your city and get the ordinance on smoke detectors, then go to your landlord and explain the regulation to them.

Answer 5

You should have a WORKING smoke detector in each sleeping area. In my city, landlords are not required to ensure this. I had a co worker die in an apartment fire years ago (she fell asleep with a cigarette, another good reason not to smoke), and there was no smoke detector in her room.

Battery powered smoke detectors are around $20. Some city fire departments will provide them to low income residence for free (call the fire department non-emergency line to see if this is the case in your town). $20 is a really cheep way to save your life, just remember to change the batteries every year.

Answer 6

Go to the harware store and buy some new ones and batteries for them. Your life is worth more than the 3 units would cost. They can be mounted easily and quickly.  I remodeled my home about 20 years ago and did a complete wire loop for the system.  One trips, they all trip. 120 volt system with battery back up in each unit.  The lower insurance rate and the piece of mind were well worth the  cost of the 5 detectors and the wire to do it.

Answer 7

Probably legal.  YOu can buy them for $5 so i don't think you'd get much sympathy if you had a fire and blamed the landlord for the damage (not that you said that you would).  A smart landlord would have lots of alarms; better safe than sorry.