However, any such ruling would only be imposed on new housing development projects.

Fire and rescue department director-general Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim told media yesterday that the government had ordered a study to be conducted on having smoke detectors in all new homes after two fires in the Klang Valley earlier this month.

“The most important thing during a fire is early detection. Which is why we are looking at making it mandatory for developers to have smoke detectors installed in all houses in future.

“We have had discussions at the department level, and will bring this up to the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry in the near future,” he told a press conference yesterday according to theSun.

He added that any such proposal is an additional measure to the mandatory fire extinguisher requirement in all households, that was implemented three years ago.

“Only early detection can save lives. If you don’t detect a fire, and if it gets big, it may be too late to even use the extinguishers,” he said, according to the daily.

He also spoke on the two deadly fires, in USJ and Kepong, saying that it is still conducting its investigation, and the department would be sending a report to the ministry on ways to improve safety.