Requiring mobile homes to have smoke detectors
Posted: 04.28.2010 at 5:18 PM
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COLUMBIA (AP) -- Someone buying an older mobile home in South Carolina would have to ensure it has working smoke detectors under a bill advanced by legislators.

The bill approved by the House on Wednesday and sent to the Senate requires the buyer to sign a form verifying the previously owned home has at least two functioning detectors.

Rep. Chip Limehouse sponsored the bill. The Charleston Republican called it a low-cost way to save lives in case one detector doesn't work.

The state's Manufactured Housing Institute supports the bill. Executive director Mark Dillard says older mobile homes lack the safety features of modern manufactured housing. He says the responsibility was put on buyers, rather than sellers, in hopes they would remember later to change the batteries and keep the detectors working.

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