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Chief Fleming has been campaigning to expose the truth about smoke detectors for almost two decades.
His work has been instrumental in bringing about awareness and legislative change in the USA and
Australia.  He is widely regarded as the world's number one expert on smoke detector research.


He has a Masters Degree in Information Systems and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering.
He has received many awards and honors.


Download Chief Fleming's Resume:  Here > > >


Acknowledgement of Chief Flemings work in Australia and New Zealand
Extract from testimonial by Mr David Isaac, Member Standards Australia Committee Member FP2:

Aus/NZ:  Here

U.S.:  Here

Home:  Here

Chief Jay Fleming

Chief Joseph 'Jay' M Fleming

"Joseph Fleming’s papers pull together the data and conclusions from international research and testing of smoke alarms over the last 30 years . . . He ably points out how the conclusions of the 2004 NIST report are not supported by the data contained within the report.  Sadly the conclusions of the NIST report were relied upon by Fire Brigades world wide in the misguided promotion of ionization smoke alarms.

He must be recognised for his work, because he has collated and presented us with irrefutable evidence (some of which has been in the public domain for 30 years);  he has forced us to acknowledge and act on three decades of misinformation that has ultimately cost the lives of thousands of men, women and children world wide."

Download full testimonial Here > > >

“The Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC) is the peak representative body for fire, emergency services
and land management agencies in the Australasian region.  . . .  The papers written by Deputy Chief Fleming were
part of the research that was utilized in developing the AFAC Position on Residential Smoke Alarms.  . . .

 
The papers written by Deputy Chief Fleming especially his paper titled “Photoelectric and lonisation detectors - a
review of the literature revisited" were considered an important part of the research for the AFAC Position on
Domestic Smoke Alarms.  Please convey our thanks to Deputy Chief Fleming for his important part in this research.”

Chief Fleming
full-scale testing at
Charlottesville, VA

‘Type of Smoke Alarms can Make Life-Death Difference’

by Kathy Curran, WBZ-TV I-Team, Boston, MA, USA - 06 July, 2007

"As Kathy Curran shows us the most popular smoke detectors don’t actually protect you in the deadliest types of fires. . . . “They need to realize if these things don't work, you're going to die," said Sheila Hackert, who lost her husband and daughter in a fire back in 2001 . . . I live with only the image of my daughter, in a dark room, screaming.”
“On average around 50% of everyone who dies in Massachusetts dies when the smoke detector operates and in the vast majority of those cases those are smouldering fires”  [Chief Jay Fleming]



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‘City Step Closer to Photoelectric Alarms in Homes’

by Kathy Curran, WBZ-TV I-Team, Boston, MA, USA - 12 September, 2007

"We are concerned about consumers having information to make the best choices for public safety.” [Attorney General, Martha Coakley]

”And I do acknowledge that they provide a life saving benefit to the public, as I do with seat belts - but the fact that seat belts are better than nothing does not mean that eventually the Federal Government did not mandate air bags - did it? . . . Nationally, the percentage of people dying when the smoke detector works, but works too late, is approximately forty percent," [Chief] Fleming said.”


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‘Fire Board Recommends Changes to  Home Smoke Alarms’

by Kathy Curran, WBZ-TV I-Team, Boston, MA, USA - 06 December, 2007

". . . the State Fire board is ready to make a change to a code that no other state has done.  The board is recommending photo-electric smoke alarm, which respond better to smoke in every home . . . "It will require at the time of sale of property to have installed the newer alarms of photoelectric," said State Fire Marshal Steve Coan  . . . “Going into this there were a lot of sceptics, including me."



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‘New Smoke Alarm Regulations Finalized’

by Kathy Curran, WBZ-TV I-Team, Boston, MA, USA - 08 January, 2009

"A unanimous vote of the State Fire Board to require photoelectric smoke alarms in every Massachusetts home comes after the I-Team showed how the most common type of
detectors, ionization detectors
don't offer the best protection in smoldering fires which are some of the deadliest blazes across the country." . . . "I think if we were able to get the entire country to adopt this regulation we could save about 1,000 lives a year," he [Fleming] said.”



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‘Family Urged to Change Type of Smoke Alarms’

by Kathy Curran, WBZ-TV I-Team, Boston, MA, USA - 30 October, 2008

"The nation's largest firefighter union is urging families to change the type of smoke alarm in their homes . . . The International Association of Fire Fighters recommends photoelectric smoke alarms
. . .
An estimated 90 percent of American households, however, are equipped with ionization smoke alarms . . .”



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‘Cause for Alarm’

by Matt DeLucia, CBS3 Springfield, MA, USA - 24 November, 2008

"The problem is, the kind of smoke detector that goes off when you burn toast doesn't go off when you have a smoldering fire," says Boston Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Fleming . . .

According to the Massachusetts Building Code, as of this year, if you buy a new home, it must have photoelectric alarms installed.



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Media A:  New Legislation, Massachusetts, USA

All stories are listed chronologically within each section

'Lack of Working Smoke Detectors Deplored'

by James Bradshaw, Globe and Mail, Toronto, CANADA - 02 March, 2008

Joseph Fleming, Deputy Chief of the Boston Fire Department, is advocating a nation-wide switch from
the vastly more common ionization model, which are found in 90 per cent of homes, to an alternative photoelectric device.


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‘Expert Attempts to Unravel Fire Deaths’

by Cindy E Harnett, Times Colonist, Victoria, BC CANADA - 21 August, 2007

From 5,351 kilometres away in his Massachusetts fire hall, Joseph Fleming, who researches fire
deaths in which smoke detectors sounded off, is building theories about why the women died and
the men survived, why no one heard the two alarms in the house, or why the alarms might have
been late in sounding off, if they did go off."


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Media C:  CANADA

Springfield, Massachusetts – CBS3


http://www.cbs3springfield.com/news/local/35015194.html

1 Story(11/24/08)


Tennessee – NewsChannel5 Stories


http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?s=7323147

Original Story 11/07/2007


http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?s=7315806

2nd Story (11/05/2007)


http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=7928435

CPSC Story (02/26/2008)


Savannah, Georgia – WSAV


http://www.wsav.com/sav/news/local/article/-SAV_2008_05_08_0013/3243/

1 Story (05/08/2008)


Madison, Wisconsin – WISC


http://www.c3ktogo.com/news-video/?mgid=14345

1 Story(01/31/08)


Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Florida -  CBS4


http://cbs4.com/iteam/fire.detector.smoke.2.930983.html

1 Story(02/10/09)


Indianpolis, Indiana – WTHR


http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=6547294&nav=menu188_2_2_7

1st Story “Deadly Delay, (01/26/2008)


http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?S=7206718

Follow-up about Vermont Legislation

Download AFAC’s letter to Boston Fire Department’s Commissioner:  Here > > >

Extract from letter by Australasian Fire Authorities & Emergency Services Council’s CEO:

Media D:  USA - More at  Media-2 > > >jf2.htmlshapeimage_8_link_0
Media B: Ionization v Photoelectric Smoke Alarms  ( To Be Completed )

Chief Fleming - Home/Media-1

Media-2jf2.htmlshapeimage_10_link_0
Researchjfresearch.htmlshapeimage_11_link_0
Media - Chief Fleming’s Battle to Alert FireFighters and the Public

A. New Legislation, Massachusetts, USA
B. Comparing Ionization with Photoelectric
C. CANADA

D. USA - See  Media-2

Chief Jay Fleming

Visit Chief Fleming’s
Website
Here > > >