Articles Featuring Skip:

• Your Place:  Replace Ionization Smoke Alarms, Group Says,  The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com Sep 2013
   
  The American Society of Home Inspectors contacted me with its concerns regarding ionization smoke detection.

  According to the National Fire Protection Association, ionization alarms have a small amount of radioactive material between two electrically charged plates that ionizes the air and causes current to flow between the plates.

  Click Here for Full Philadelphia Inquirer Article
   

• Kevin Hunt:  Did Millions of People Buy The Wrong Type of Smoke Alarm?  The Hartford Courant Sep 2013
   
  Smoke alarms save lives, but only if they're the right alarms.

  Ninety-six percent of the country's homes have at least one smoke alarm, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

  What kind do you have?

  If it's not photoelectric it's the wrong kind, says Skip Walker, a home inspector from San Bruno, Calif., with a distinct day-night mission statement.

  Click Here for Full Columbus Ohio Dispatch Article

• 
  Common Smoke Detectors Under Scrutiny for Being Slow to Catch Smoldering Fires  Columbus Dispatch  Oct 2012
  
  A growing number of experts recommend photoelectric detectors instead of — or in addition to — ionization detectors, which are in about 90 percent of U.S. homes.
  
  A handful of states — including Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont — require photoelectric detectors in homes, either on their own or in addition to ionization detectors.
  
  Click Here for Full Columbus Ohio Dispatch Article
  
   
• Heated Debate:  Common Smoke Detectors Under Scrutiny for Being Slow to Catch Smoldering Fires  Fire Engineering  Oct 2012
  
  "There's so much data on this topic," said Skip Walker, a home inspector in California and a member of the American Society of Home Inspectors, which has endorsed photoelectric detectors. "It all says the same thing: These things (ionization detectors) don't work the way they're supposed to."
  
  Click Here for Full Fire Engineering Article
  
   
• San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Real Estate Feature Article: House Calls  January 2007

On a crisp and clear January morning, Skip Walker arrives at the Bayview district home of his next patient -- a seemingly still spry 70-year-old in need of a complete physical.

 

Walker, who prides himself on being thorough, expects to spend the next three or more hours doing what doctors appear to relish most: systematically poking, prodding and peering into the intimate recesses of their patients.

 

Walker likes his work. 

Click for Full SF Chronicle - House Calls Article