False Fire Alarm Reoccurring Problem

[dickcheney6]

I've got an idea, keep a record of which smoke detectors have been replaced at what date. Any detectors more than X number of years old should be replaced. Problem solved

[Farenheit4051]

That's a 4100 addressable system. It should be able to tell you if there's dust on a detector.

[whelenvortexr4]

@Farenheit4051 My brother's school has a Simplex Fire Alarm System and it's like 11 years old with Tru Alerts and everything. They are in the process of replacing it.

[Videogamer52100]

My school had this problem too... Mason intermediate school

[dickcheney6]

Instead of being directly connected to the FD, it should be on a central monitoring station like with a burglar alarm-upon getting a signal, the station calls a designated number to verify the signal. If the person on the other end says "sorry it malfunctioned" then they don't call the FD.

I don't mean they should unhook it, I mean that if the alarm goes off and the staff finds it to be false, they should call the FD and tell them not to come that time.

[dickcheney6]

I think there should be a delay of like, say, 1 minute before it generates a signal. That should be enough time to verify whether the alarm is real or not, and if it's not, the staff should be able to cancel the alarm. Also, can't they just call the fire department when they realize it's a false alarm and say "sorry you don't have to come it's a false alarm!"

[moncelitc]

@dickcheney6 yes they could but because the fire alarms are hooked up to the fire station they have to let the fire department come

[dickcheney6]

@moncelitc So they're not allowed to call and tell them it was a false alarm?

[moncelitc]

@dickcheney6 well i dont know but they need to check the smoke detectors

[mm62firefighter]

@dickcheney6 nope even if someone said its a false your fire dep. have to come and check thats with homes but i do see what your saying but if some needs help that minute could do us a lot of good.

[dickcheney6]

@mm62firefighter Where's the logic in continuing toward the alarm signal sent by a machine, when a live person has just called and said that there has been a glitch or some stupid kid pulled the alarm? I mean, we're talking about a live person "dismissing" an electrical thing, not the other way around.

[CyanoticFuture]

Fire alarms should never be hooked up to a FD,should be mandated to be maintained at least once a month for safety and to prevent faulty alarms,and replaced every few years.Smoke detectors are excellent devices because they are actually less likely to malfunction or go of falsely when properly placed and people tend to ignore a smoke detector less

[CyanoticFuture]

what a waste of time for any FD to respond to false alarms,hell fire alarms period.People generally ignore them,ive been in hospitals when theyve gone of on accident and NOBODY PAID ATTENTION TO IT.They are going the way of car alarms,because they falsely go off constantly ,people ignore and many FDs wont respond to them and many that do respond,have begun charging 500-1000 dollars for every false alarm they respond to.

[2625191514]

When I went to school, I hated fire drills, because the fire alarms were too loud, for me!!! Each time I was in school, and the fire alarm would go off, I would plug my ears!!! When I was in Kindergarten, after the first fire drill that we had, in Kindergarten, I plugged my ears, everyday, and my teacher would have to tell me that we was not going to have a fire drill, that day!!! I hate fire alarms!!! I hate being in to buildings with fire alarm systems!!! I have sensitive hearing!!!

[jediskunk67]

Boy If I heard that fire alarm go off every single time every day I would not go back until they fixed it.

[hyperbaricchicken101]

@jediskunk67 That's what my mom would do!

[crazyboy72375]

yqa i admit i dident think that threw

[THATW3IRDKID]

Atleast the kids arent pulling them.

[rhett443]

Simplex is a good system all in all, the only problem iv ever had with a simplex was when my pullstation broke.

[crazyboy72375]

They shouldjust disconect the horn nac

[Tabby266]

@crazyboy72375 but then what if there's a real fire?

[NickyVeee]

@crazyboy72375 What's the point of disabling a NAC? The system will still go into alarm and notify the fire department regardless. All your doing then is putting people at risk in the building by not notifying them that there could potentially be a fire or other emergency.

I'm with LifeSafetySystems though... The install job may be shoddy, and they may have not programmed everything correctly. Hopefully they get their system fixed correctly, as to prevent the "Cry Wolf" effect from growing.

[crazyboy72375]

@NickyVeee what i ment was that they need some way to be able to keep the alarm quiet if the smokedetector gets dust in them i admit that the way i said that sounded funny. beacuse think of this people who are afraid of loud noises whould freak out so thats why

[NickyVeee]

@crazyboy72375 I understand your concern, but unfortunately those students with that particular problem really don't make up a majority of all of the students. You can't endanger other students (by shutting off the NACs) just because some students get panic attacks, etc. because of loud noises. Which you have to admit is a fair statement.

The only thing you can hope for is that the school can provide special accommodations for those students.

[bigBn20102010]

well they could use it as bunker training

[Corvette1658]

Maybe if they are stall haveing problem maybe they should just get all new alarms replace all of the system.

[Corvette1658]

I can see that every time that the fire man are they it looks like they is away's Truable on the pauel

[nomad2275]

Well first problem they have is they used Simplex.

[LifeSafetySystems]

iT SOUND LIKE A LACK OF CLEANING AND CALIBRATION FROM THE COMPANY WITH THE MANTINANCE CONTRACT IS TO BLAME

[wileyk209zback]

That's a Simplex fire alarm system shown in that video. Bridgewater State College has tons of them, but they work just fine