Alarm systems and false alarms

NFPA Journal, May/Jun 2002 by Klaene, Ben, Sanders, Russ

structural firefighting

Habitual nuisance and false alarms can cause complacency.

The large number of nuisance and false alarms generated by fire suppression and detection systems can lead to a dangerous tendency to treat all alarms as false alarms. When fire officers assume an alarm is false, they tend to focus on resetting the system and returning to the station, rather than conducting a proper size-up.

When responding to properties with a history of nuisance or false alarms, the incident commander (IC) must be alert to signs of complacency, such as failure to don the proper personal protective equipment and spending excessive time in the alarm room. This complacency can have deadly consequences if it delays the implementation of an emergency action plan, when the alarm turns out to be a real emergency. In a fire department's quest to address nuisance alarms, the IC might levy fines against property owners who have excessive false alarms. However, such policies often prove counterproductive and shouldn't be implemented without careful study. In their zeal to avoid fines, some owners might resort to drastic measures, such as disabling the alarm system or directing employees to investigate alarms before notifying the fire department. Fires in the First Interstate Bank Building in Los Angeles, California, and One Meridian Plaza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, (see "Looking Back" on page 176) are just two examples in which delayed alarms contributed to a loss of life and property. Since delayed alarms are frequently contributing factors to fires involving major loss of life and property, the IC should be careful to avoid any action that might tempt property owners to delay calling the fire department.

It's important that we learn from history and take measures necessary to prevent delayed alarms. Many jurisdictions require that alarm systems automatically transmit a signal to the fire department, thus avoiding potentially deadly delayed alarms. While it's essential to have measures to prevent delayed alarms, it's also important that the local fire department and the building's occupants take appropriate action when an alarm activates.

There have been many fires where occupants failed to properly respond to an alarm system. We've experienced incidents in high-rise hotels where guests failed to act when the alarm sounded. In one incident, a firefighter conference was being held in the hotel when an alarm sounded in the middle of the night.

Only a few people responded and went to the lobby to await instructions.

While the guests waited, firefighters arrived and tried several times to reset the alarm system. No attempt by department personnel was made to find the source of the alarm. The inaction by the guests, many of them firefighters, and the delayed action while the fire department tried to reset the alarm had the potential for a large loss of life. Fortunately, the alarm was accidental.

Nuisance alarms are a serious problem, and correcting them should be an IC's top priority. The fire department and property owner should work together to eliminate nuisance and false alarms by ensuring that all detection and suppression systems are properly installed and maintained.

In the interim, the IC must be vigilant because every alarm must be treated as an emergency until a thorough investigation proves otherwise.

RUSS SANDERS served with the Louisville, Kentucky, Fire Department for 29 years, the last 9 as department chief. He's now NFPA's Central Regional Manager. After 30 years with the Cincinnati Fire Department, BEN KLAENE retired as the Training/Safety Chief to teach at the University of Cincinnati Open Learning Fire Science Program.