Cape Wide News for Tuesday March 2nd, 2010

Woes mount for grounded clam dredge

EAST DENNIS – An 11.8-foot tide at 12:16 p.m. Tuesday failed to provide the lift needed to enable two vessels, one of them the Guardian out of Wellfleet (right in top photo), to haul the Ruth & Gail off Cold Storage Beach in East Dennis. The 34-foot clam dredge ran aground Sunday (see story here) and was pushed onto the beach by heavy winds and storm surf. The United States Coast Guard reports that the loss of power and steering led to the vessel's distress.

As can be seen in the photo at right, the Ruth & Gail was not the only victim of the storm. The one-mile marker navigation buoy (1S) that marks the entrance of the channel to Sesuit Harbor was ripped from its mooring and tossed up on the beach some 150 yards from the grounded vessel. The U.S. Coast Guard received the report of the beached buoy on Monday. A Coast Guard cutter has put a new buoy in its place and the Coast Guard Cutter Ida Lewis will retrieve the old one at some point.

The high tides of early March will be diminishing in height for the next couple of weeks so the hopes of towing the vessel off the beach appear to have been dashed. To add to the difficulties, a man working on the salvage effort had to be transported to Cape Cod Hospital by Dennis Rescue suffering from unknown medical problems.

Story and photos by Kevin Morley/CWN

Fire Prevention Board Revises Smoke Alarm Regulations
YARMOUTH - State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan and Yarmouth Fire Department Fire Chief Michael Walker want to alert the public that if you are selling your home after April 5, 2010, there are changes in the state’s smoke alarm regulations for homes with five or less units.

Chief Walker said, “The regulation will require that only photoelectric smoke detectors be installed within 20 feet of a kitchen or bath containing a shower, in order to reduce nuisance alarms from cooking smoke or steam that lead people to disable their smoke alarms. Areas located beyond this 20 foot area will be required to contain dual detection, both photoelectric and ionization, using either a single detector or two separate ones.”

Use of Technology to Provide Earliest Warning of Fire
Smoke alarms use two main technologies: photoelectric and ionization. Photoelectric smoke alarms are more effective in detecting slow moving or smoldering fire situations whereas ionization detectors are slightly more effective in detecting fast moving fires. Coan said, “This change, requiring the use of dual detection technology, provides the best level of public safety by reducing nuisance alarms that lead people to disable their smoke alarms and by providing the earliest possible warning of a fire and therefore time to escape to safety.”

Enforcement on Sale or Transfer
The enforcement of the regulation will continue to take place when the residence is sold or transferred. Homeowners selling their homes after April 5, 2010 will have to meet these new requirements.

Working Smoke Alarms Double Chances of Surviving a Fire
“We must continue to update our fire prevention code to keep pace with evolving technology, knowledge of human behavior, and scientific research,” said Walker, “I want to stress that working smoke alarms greatly increase your chances of surviving a fire.”

Carbon Monoxide Alarms
Since March 2006, all homes have been required to install carbon monoxide alarms on each habitable level in addition to smoke detectors.

For more information about smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms, contact the Yarmouth Fire Department Fire Prevention Office at 508-398-2212, or the Department of Fire Service’s website at www.mass.gov/dfs then click on “Division of Fire Safety”. To help guide homeowners and realtors understand the requirements a new brochure A Guide to the Massachusetts Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Requirements When Selling a One- or Two-Family Residence has been published and is also available on the Department of Fire Services website.

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