The town fire marshal is warning that a popular brand of residential smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors is having a major recall of the safety devices, recalling 1.3 million units which the firm has sold in the United States and Canada.

According to Fire Marshal Bill Halstead, on September 11 the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that more than 1 million alarms intended to alert people to smoke and carbon monoxide in their homes are being recalled because of a defect which could cause the devices to fail.

The Kidde brand smoke alarms and combination smoke/carbon monoxide alarms are hard-wired devices and can fail after a power outage, according to CPSC. About 1.2 million were sold in the US and about 112,000 units were sold in Canada.

The problem with the devices involves computer programming code, according to Kidde.

All of the devices are the type that are directly connected to household electrical wiring.

The Kidde brand devices affected by the recall are:

*Residential smoke alarm — Model i12010s, which was manufactured between December 18, 2013, and May 13, 2014.

*Combination smoke/carbon monoxide alarm – Model i12010SCO, which was manufactured between December 30, 2013, and May 13, 2014.

*Combination smoke/carbon monoxide alarm – Model KN-COSM-IBA, which was manufactured between October 22, 2013, and May 13, 2014.

All of the devices use backup batteries. The alarms are white and round and have the name Kidde molded onto their front panel.

The Chinese-made alarms were sold between January and July for $30 to $50 at Home Depot, Menards, Amazon.com, and at electronic supply stores and other retailers.

People who have such alarms should contract Kidde to get free replacements. The company’s telephone number is 844-553-9011, weekdays from 8 am to 5 pm EDT.

The CPSC has a webpage on the recall. 

To contact Kidde about the recall online visit kiddesummary.inmar-recalls.com.