Security Industry News >> EMERgency24 Inc.

Telluride, CO, Fire Department Wants to Fine for Repeated False Alarms

When there’s no smoke and no fire — but the alarm goes off anyway — the firemen come running just the same.

And it costs them money.

Officials at the Telluride, CO, Fire Protection District estimate that responding to false alarms cost them $20,000 in 2009.

“It’s a chunk of money,” said Jim Boeckel, the fire marshal.

Of course, the district understands that false alarms are part of the cost of a preventing fires. And the number of alarms are actually declining, Boeckel said.

But they ask people to perform proper maintenance of their alarm systems. And they wish that people who rent out their homes would make sure that the renters know how to call the alarm company and tell them that an alarm was an accident.

The problem is that a high percentage of calls into the district are false alarms. That is: alarms where there wasn’t even a burnt piece of toast. It was just a malfunctioning alarm.

Last year, of the 505 times that the fire district sent out a truck and firemen to check on a fire alarm, 68 proved to be malfunctioning alarms. That means that 13 percent of calls are a pure waste of time and money.

When the fire department rolls out on a call, it brings the big ladder truck and a crew of between four and seven volunteer firemen who have to roll out of bed or their workout, rush to the station, and head out on a call that — 13 percent of the time — turns out to be less than nothing.

“We don’t want the attitude to sour with the volunteers,” said John Bennett, the assistant chief.

What’s worse, say fire officials, is that they often arrive at the same house or business over and over. It makes them worry about safety.

“When you start getting multiple calls to the same location, then it gets that cry wolf syndrome, and that’s when it gets dangerous,” said Bennett. “You always worry about that because the next time it could be real.”

The department sometimes threatens repeat offenders with fines — those who have three or so alarms within perhaps a month — but almost never actually fines them. They hope to get people to get their alarms in order.

Dust on the alarm can set them off.

“The alarm doesn’t care if it’s smoke or if it’s dust,” Boeckel said, “or if it’s a spider walking through, which we’ve had.”

Ceiling sprinklers can get set off by people hanging clothes on them to dry, or by hanging Christmas decorations there.

The fire officials hope homeowners and landlords will look after the alarms. And save the district money.