Stupid false fire alarms

[giza]

I was minding my business late last night, and suddenly I hear a klaxxon from the hallway of my apartment building. Another fire alarm, and a false one, at that. The last time we had one, the fire department told us, "by the way, we're not responding to future ones unless you call us". So, I got to dial 911 on my cellphone, and that was fun, too. I wasn't able to fall asleep until 3 AM, completely exhausted.

I spoke to another tenant, who said that his has been 5 times there have been false alarms in the last 6 months! This concrens me from a safety standpoint for two reasons: 1) The fire department only sent one truck over (at first). If there ever is a fire, the limited response will mean more property damage, and 2) If there is a fire someplace else the same time the fire department is responding to a false alarm in my building, there will be more property damage, and possibly lives lost, at where the real fire is.

I think I'm going to be making a phonecall to my landlord tomorrow about this. That'll give me time to cool down some. Grr.

Comments

[halex.livejournal.com]

There is no reason that you should be endangered like that. Though being a renter before I doubt your landlord will do anything about it.

[technomom]

1) Make sure you have several working fire & smoke alarms in your apartment.

2) Make definite plans on how YOU would get out in a real fire. If you're on an upper floor, consider one of those escape ladders that Home Depot and the like sell.

3) Make sure you have renter's insurance and keep it current. You'll almost certainly need a special rider for computer equipment - the standard coverage is usually pretty low.

4) Create and keep offsite a very detailed inventory of your personal property in case you ever need to file a claim.

[giza.livejournal.com]

1) Check

2) Check. I live on the first floor.

3) Check. I have a $2K rider for computer equipment, which is enough for my aging system.

4) Check.

Bonus item: I keep my backups in a fireproof safe (http://www.claws-and-paws.com/resume/firecooler_safe.jpg). :-)

Repeated False Alarms.

[danruk.livejournal.com]

I'm assuming some 'prankster' is pulling an alarm or 'triggering' one here..

As opposed to an 'auto alarm' that might 'trigger' say, if someone burns something on the stove and didn't get a fan on or vented out in time.

Assuming the former is true, there are severe and stiff fines and penalties for pulling a false alarm and being caught.

There's the rub. It's happened a lot and noone's been nearly caught nor even seen near the scene of allegedly pulled or triggered alarm.

This makes for touchy issues and not likely you can watch these alarms 24/7 to catch some stupid ass in the act.

See if the F.D. can zero in.. is ONE or TWO of the alarms in particular the 'culprits' because they may be easy access to prank pull and run.

still.. the hassle .. it even happesn to me from time to time in my apartment building too. but not quite as much as you seem to indicate.

Hang tight, the joker will either give up or more hopefully.. get CAUGHT!

Re: Repeated False Alarms.

[boixboi.livejournal.com]

Actually...I've seen it before, where it's just a bad system, not someone pulling it. Ask anyone who attends Earlham College about this phenomenon, it's been going on in one of the dorm houses there for longer than any single person has lived there-- and it's locked from non-dormies 24/7. Apparently the school is just too poor to go through and redo the whole system, as I understand it.

Re: Repeated False Alarms.

[kinkyturtle.livejournal.com]

At Mephit Furmeet last year, there was at least one false alarm in the hotel EVERY DAY! It was a pain.

Re: Repeated False Alarms.

[giza.livejournal.com]

>I'm assuming some 'prankster' is pulling an alarm or 'triggering' one here..

Not to our knowledge. It's mostly adults who live in my building, and the fire department said that none of the alarms had been pulled. (I know, because I asked them after each alarm). The cause of last night's alarm was that one of the smoke detectors in a second floor stairwell went off, for no apparent reason. The was no smoke anywhere to be found/smelled on the second floor, either. I know this, because I checked the entire floor before calling it in.