False alarms costly Other areas consider fines Three different departments responded Friday to this false alarm on W. Shore Drive. At one point, seven trucks and a dozen firefighters were on the scene. Pouring rain Saturday meant this false alarm at the Oriental Harbor Place condominiums was particularly irksome. A truck and manpower from the Arapahoe Volunteer Fire Department joined three units dispatched from Southeast Pamlico Volunteer Fire Department. Jeff Aydelette Pamlico News Staff

Volunteer firefighters from throughout the county are keeping stiff upper lips despite being called upon to respond to a rash of errant alarms, a costly and time-consuming waste of resources.

Last week alone, emergency management officials reported back-to-back bogus incidents -- apparently triggered by defective alarm equipment or freaks of nature.

An incident at 1 p.m. Friday in the Forestshore Subdivision lured seven trucks from three different departments. The upscale waterfront home was locked tight, but responders were able to determine that an installed alarm system had indeed been triggered -- with no smoke or flames present.

Reached the next day, the homeowner expressed empathy for the dozen or so firefighters who left jobs, meals, and other activities for the wild goose chase.

“I’ve fussed with ADT,” he said, referring to the well-known security company, “because I certainly don’t want any more false alarms.”

A series of questions e-mailed over the weekend to the Director of Corporate Communications for ADT, which is a subsidiary of international conglomerate Tyco, were neither acknowledged, nor answered, by press time of The Pamlico News.

Mid-day Saturday, in the middle of a rainstorm, one of two buildings that comprise Oriental Harbor Place condominiums suddenly emitted ear-piercing sirens and flashing strobe lights in every unit -- a pseudo emergency as it turned out.

But, at least four trucks responded, including a unit from the Arapahoe Volunteer Fire Department --  a roundtrip that put a dent in the pocketbooks of taxpaying citizens in an entirely different fire district.

Nationwide, a growing nucleus of fire departments have adopted fines and penalties for repeated occurrences, driven in large part by huge increases in the cost of fuel for diesel and gas-guzzling fire trucks.

Locally, however, volunteer fire departments stress that “we’re here to serve,” in the words of Alan Arnfast, Chief of the Southeast Pamlico Volunteer Fire Department.

“To my knowledge, our department has never had to assess a homeowner for repeated alarm soundings,” he said. “Ten years ago, the alarm at the phone company site, at the intersection of Oriental and Janeiro Roads, used to go off constantly, but when we got the call, we had to go. We would send a truck or two down there. Temperature or a power failure would set off the alarm -- I bet we went 20 times.”

Elsewhere, though, fire departments are taking a firmer stance.

The most recent to adopt punitive measures is that of Johnstown, Pa., a town of approximately 23,000 people, where response data compiled by Deputy Fire Chief Patrick Lape indicated an average of 40 or more false reports per month -- with a disproportionate number generated by a large medical facility and a multi-family residential building.

“The thing driving this is fuel costs,” said Lape. “Food (burning) on a stove, or steam from a shower we don’t actually classify those as false alarms,” he explained. “What we classify as a false alarm is a malfunction of the system, where it activates and there is no reason for it. After the third false alarm (in a calendar year), the building owner would receive a fine.”

In Johnstown, residential buildings deemed to be three-time offenders are subject to a $50 fine; commercial buildings pay $150. And, according to Lape, authorities intend to invoke their new clout.

“We did the statistics for last month,” he said, “and there are definitely two (fines) that the city manager will be giving out.”