Phony Smoke Detectors Given Out by Atlanta FD | Firehouse.com
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
ATLANTA --
The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department announced Thursday night that it was recalling more than 18,000 smoke detectors it distributed, after a CBS Atlanta News investigation uncovered that the smoke detectors were counterfeit.
The CBS Atlanta investigation led by reporter Jennifer Mayerle triggered an investigation by the FBI and Underwriters Laboratories, a company that puts smoke detectors through rigorous tests and decides if they meet national safety standards before they reach your home or business.
Virginia McDay and her neighbor, Cheryl Harper, live in what they call a forgotten neighborhood.
"This is my family home," said McDay.
Morehouse Drive is an older area of northwest Atlanta. Many of the homes are run down; the people living there, disadvantaged.
It's also a neighborhood where the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department handed out free smoke detectors. These seniors thought they were being protected.
"I thought, the Fire Department. Hey, it's a good one," said McDay.
Now because of CBS Atlanta's tough questions investigation, those same smoke detectors and the people who sold them are being investigated by the FBI. The smoke detectors are counterfeit.
Mayerle asked Harper, "It never worked?"
"No," said Cheryl. "The fire department gave me that."
Let me introduce you to Bob Silver, a man described by a former acquaintance as sleazy, a crook and, "a fairly morally corrupt person who seemed to think it was OK and seemed to think he could get away with anything," said the person who wanted to remain anonymous.
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