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A Bethesda fire that killed an elderly couple in their Arizona Circle home on June 14 is highlighting a type of smoke alarm that detects smoke from smoldering fires up to 30 minutes earlier than the type of alarms typically installed in homes, according to a study conducted by the National Institutes of Standards and Technology.

The Bethesda fire was started by an improperly discarded cigarette, a scenario that can lead to smoldering fires that often develop slowly and take longer to burst into open flame. Some advocates hope to have building codes changed to mandate the technology that detects smoke from these types of fires faster.

The couple, William Purcell, 79, and his wife Patricia Purcell, 64, died after William Purcell apparently improperly discarded a cigarette near his bed on the first floor of the home. Purcell, who had mobility problems, used a wheelchair. William Purcell's daughter, 55, attempted to help her father and stepmother after a smoke alarm sounded but was unable to do so. She escaped unharmed.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service officials say it's likely the alarm that sounded in the home was an ionization alarm — the type typically installed in homes — rather than a photoelectric alarm, which is more sensitive to smoldering fires. However, damage to the alarm made it impossible to tell which kind it was, according to Capt. Oscar Garcia, a Fire and Rescue spokesman.

The NIST study determined that both alarms provided enough warning time to escape for most people. However, it also concluded that ionization alarms may not always sound even though a room may be filled with smoke from a smoldering fire, which may be a risk factor for those with mobility limitations. In those cases, photoelectric alarms sounded much faster. On the other hand, ionization alarms sound about 30 seconds faster during flaming fires which can develop much more quickly.

"To say one is better than another, it's hard to say because you just don't know," said Thomas Cleary, a researcher at NIST who was involved with the study. "There is no perfect solution."

Seniors remain at an increased risk of being victims of fire, according to a report issued by a county senior citizen fire safety task force, launched in 2006 in response to an increasing number of seniors dying in fires. Limited mobility and impaired vision and hearing can contribute to risk factors. Improperly discarded cigarettes are a common way fires that turn fatal for seniors are ignited, according to the report.

It's difficult to determine whether a photoelectric alarm could have affected the ultimate outcome of the Bethesda fire, but some advocates including the Washington-based International Association of Firefighters are pushing to mandate photoelectric alarms in building codes. Other groups, including the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, recommend using alarms that incorporate both kinds of technologies.

"There's no way to know what kind of fire you could have in your home," Garcia said, recommending the "dual" technology.

Some, however, advocate for the sole use of photoelectric alarms. Boston Fire Department deputy chief Joseph Fleming, a long-time advocate for photoelectric alarms, contacted The Gazette after learning of the fatal fire. A one-time fire marshal in Boston, Fleming spent time investigating fires there similar to the one in Bethesda. "I kept going to fires where people were dying even though the smoke detector worked," Fleming said.

Of 53 fatal fires in Maryland in 2008, 20 fires occurred where smoke alarms were known to function properly, according to data from the Maryland State Fire Marshal. In seven other cases, it wasn't determined whether the smoke detector worked.

After extensive research, Fleming concluded that photoelectric alarms provide enough escape time in flaming fires and significantly more warning in smoldering fires. Ionization alarms are more likely to be disabled by homeowners because, unlike photoelectric alarms, they often sound in response to cooking smoke, Fleming said.

Massachusetts and Vermont now both mandate combination alarms in their building codes, Fleming said, though the International Association of Firefighters is recommending that residents switch from ionization to photoelectric alarms.

"A delayed warning during a smoldering fire, especially at night, can incapacitate people who are sleeping and lead to death as fire spreads," read a statement by the IAFF.

The bottom line, according to the Bethesda-based Consumer Product Safety Commission, is to have working smoke alarms in the home. Smoke alarms significantly increase the likelihood of surviving a fire, studies have shown. Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of the home and inside each bedroom, said Patty Davis, a spokeswoman for the commission. It's best if the alarms are interconnected, so one alarm sounding can trigger others in the home, Davis said. "It's just so important to have a smoke alarm in your home, but if you feel you want the added protection of having both [photoelectric and ionization], that's a good thing," Davis said.