At the City Council meeting Tuesday, the Peter Talen Memorial Ordinance was unanimously approved, enstating the first city regulation to be named in someone’s honor.
Peter Talen was a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student who died in a house fire at 123 N. Bedford St. while visiting his brother, University of Wisconsin senior Andy Talen, on Nov. 18, 2007.
The faulty nine-volt battery alarm that played a role in Talen’s death inspired Madison Fire Department Marshall Ed Ruckriegel and Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, to establish the fire ordinance in his memory. The ordinance requires all Madison landlords to replace their nine-volt battery smoke alarms with lithium-battery powered alarms by Aug. 15.
At the time of the incident, Andy Talen’s apartment housed six fire alarms, none of them functioning properly.
“…[L]ife is very precious. I have learned in a very difficult way and at this moment in time you all are — by this ordinance — affirming life and its precious value not only to college students but to parents to students to teachers to everyone,” said Patty Talen, Peter’s mother.
After meeting with the Talen family, Verveer said he created the ordinance to avoid a similar tragedy from happening in the community ever again.
If the ordinance was in effect in 2007, Talen’s death could have been prevented, he said.
Verveer added when walking through the burnt down house, he saw the empty brackets where a fire alarm should have sat above the couch Talen was sleeping on the night of his death. He also said there was a disengaged alarm above the refrigerator that did not fit into the empty brackets.
The proposed lithium batteries are tamper-resistant and contain a lithium battery that does not need be changed for 10 years.
“It’s a memorial to Pete and hopefully a reminder to everybody to check their smoke detectors and hopefully they are working,” said Tim Talen, Peter’s father.
Andy Talen sustained some burns on his arm during the fire. He said it is imperative college students check their fire alarms.
He added usually students don’t give the alarm systems much thought, but they can save lives.
Tim added his family is very grateful to the city of Madison for instilling the ordinance because it shows people truly care about saving lives.
Patty’s children as well as the UW students in the house at the time of the incident are traveling around Madison teaching people about the consequences of fires.
MFD spokesperson Lori Wirth said she was pleased that a life-saving piece of equipment will be able to do its job.
She added there have been too many fires in Madison that the MFD has responded to in which alarms never sounded.
“It puts everybody on a level playing field and gives us smoke alarms all throughout the city that responds when they’re supposed to,” Wirth said.
