SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20260325-0ED47-2147322299. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: First Alert SM210 (First Alert smoke alarm, model SM210.). Incident: I recently purchased a new photoelectric smoke detector (First Alert/Resideo brand, model SM210, manufactured by Resideo Technologies Inc., El Paso TX 79936). While setting up the device, I noticed by chance that the packaging states "once deactivated the alarm cannot be reactivated and must be replaced." This is a permanent, irreversible deactivation switch. My safety concern is about the labeling, design, and a critical physical flaw: this warning is printed in the same small, plain text as all other general instructions on the back of the packaging. There is no bold warning, no red text, no large font, no sticker on the device itself, and nothing that would alert a consumer to the permanent and irreversible nature of sliding this switch before they do so. Compounding this danger significantly: after sliding the switch to the deactivate position, the switch can be physically slid back to the activate position. The device gives no indication whatsoever that it is permanently disabled. A consumer who accidentally deactivates the unit and slides it back to the activate position will have every reason to believe the detector is fully functional. There is no warning light, no audible alert, no physical resistance, and no indication of any kind that the device is permanently dead. As a previous owner of an older model of the same brand, my established habit was to temporarily deactivate the alarm when cooking produced smoke, then reactivate and rehang it afterward. Had I followed that same habit with this new model SM210, I would have permanently disabled a brand new smoke dete