From the Albany Patch: Albany city council members voted unanimously night to require photoelectric alarms — which use a light source to detect the presence of smoke — in homes and businesses. It is the first city in California to do so.

Albany joins the state of Vermont in requiring photoelectric alarms. Vermont has banned, from new buildings, ionization alarms, which use a small amount of radioactive material to detect invisible particles generated by flame and are found in 95% of homes in America. Massachusetts, Iowa and Maine require the use of either photoelectric alarms, which can be combined with traditional ionization alarms, or alarms with both kinds of sensors.

The Albany ordinance requires the use of photoelectric alarms and detectors in a range of situations, such as with new construction, in multifamily dwellings or with certain home improvement projects.