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

[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). :-)