On July 23rd we were called to a smoke alarm activation in The Kennisis Lake area, (this alarm fortunately turned out to be a malfunction of the alarm system, ie a false alarm). While attending this call we were also paged to respond with the ambulance to a medical emergency.
My concern is that this false alarm call put my firefighters many kilometers away from the fire station, and away from this serious medical emergency.
I understand that false alarms will happen, and it is nobody’s fault that equipment malfunctions. But I would ask that anybody that has an alarm system in their home/cottage/residence take the following precautions to help mitigate these false alarms.
– Have your alarm system inspected annually.
– Ensure that the phone numbers given for emergency contact to the alarm company/monitoring service, includes as many of the following numbers. These are the phone numbers the fire department will call, (while fire trucks are responding to your residence), to try and confirm the reason for activation.
o the alarmed residence phone number?,
o a phone number for the owner?
o Cell phone numbers for people (family members, friends?) that may be using the residence?
o Remember an alarm can happen any time of the day any time of the week so phone numbers should be a 24/7 phone number?
o Neighbors phone number?
– If you accidentally trigger a false alarm (ie, by cooking) and you can personally confirm that there is no emergency, you can call your alarm company and/or the fire department and advise them of the accidental activation.
– If you are renting your residence, ensure there are directions and appropriate information readily available for the tenants and that they are informed of the alarm system presence and operation.
Lastly, if we attend your residence for an alarm call, we will need to access the building. Having a neighbor or individual who can also respond to the alarm call helps us to quickly access and assess the possible cause of the alarm activation. (alternately advise your alarm company of a lock box or hidden key that can be used by emergency personnel to access your residence).
Once again I am aware that false alarms are inevitable. The Fire Department will respond to any alarm call we receive, but anything that can be done to reduce/mitigate these false alarms would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy the beautiful hot summer, Mike.
Mike Iles
Fire Chief
Municipality of Dysart et al
miles@dysartetal.ca
Office 705-457-2126
Fax 705-457-1964