Warehouse catches fire at Mebane-based smoke detector maker

The Mebane-based company known for making smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers was itself the site of a fire Tuesday morning. Alamance County firefighters were called to Kidde United Technologies after a fire started in a warehouse.

No one was working in the building at the time, and no one was hurt, a company spokesman said.

Kidde has been in the news for recalling more than 450,000 smoke detectors that may be unable to detect a fire.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a yellow cap left on the detectors during the manufacturing process may cover one of two smoke sensors on the device and compromise its ability to detect smoke.

People with a Kidde smoke detector are advised to remove the device and look through an opening on the side of the alarm to see if the yellow cap is present. If the cap is present, consumers should contact Kidde to receive a replacement.

Kidde said Dual Sensor smoke detectors with model numbers PI2010 and PI9010 are affected by the recall.

About 452,000 defective smoke detectors were sold in the United States and another 40,000 were sold in Canada.

Last year, Kidde recalled about 40 million fire extinguishers, some of which had been on the market for decades, because they may not work right in an emergency.