According to a news report from The Island Packet, a newspaper serving South Carolina's Hilton Head Island, there's a new effort to identify false fire alarms.
The fire department has identified that some 13 percent of false fire alarms occur during regular maintenance and testing. The problem, according to the local fire chief, is that fire alarm installing and monitoring companies are not calling the fire department to report those instances as part of normal tests. Thus, the Hilton Head Island fire department has been responding to the fire alarm system signals as if they were real emergency signals.
The newspaper reports that Fire Chief Tom Fieldstead is considering fines for fire alarm dealers and monitoring companies that don't report their false alarms. No details for a fine structure were released; the proposal is still in its early discussion stages.
