What Are "False Alarms?"
A false alarm is when a person intentionally sends in a false report of a fire. This causes emergency crews (Stillwater Fire Department, OSU Environmental Health & Safety Department, and OSU Police Department) to expend time and effort in responding to a non-existing situation. False alarms kill. It has been documented by numerous fire agencies around the country that a number of fire departments responding to false alarms have been involved in accidents while responding to such reports, which resulted in firefighters being killed or injured, and vehicles and equipment damaged. Or they may be delayed in responding to a real emergency where lives are at stake.
The fire detection systems in OSU facilities are designed to respond to a condition of smoke and/or heat. How does a smoke detector work? When a foreign object or substance enters the inner chamber of a smoke detector, it activates the detector's sensor, which sends a signal to the fire alarm control panel and sets off the fire alarm. However, a smoke detector cannot distinguish the differences in smoke, dust, insects, and water.
All fire alarm systems on campus are connected to a central receiving panel that is monitored 24 hours-a-day by the OSU Police Department. When a fire alarm goes off in a campus building, the dispatcher immediately knows which building. Then it's a quick call to the Stillwater Fire Department and the OSU Environmental Health & Safety Department. Each call is taken seriously and response is within a few minutes.
Fortunately, the cause of most fire alarms is not fire, but something else. Causes can be accidental (somebody bumping into a fire alarm device, a worker spray painting, sawing/sanding wood, or welding too close to a detector), unintentional (dust or insects the detector sees as smoke, or a smoke detector too close to a kitchen area, or water that leaks into a detector), mechanical (a malfunctioning system--usually when a new system is being installed, an electrical storm, or a faulty wire), or malicious (intentionally setting off the alarm).
Here is a list of fire alarms on the OSU campus responded to by SFD and EHS for the months of December 1997 and January thru March 1998, as well as the causes of those alarms:
- Dec. 11: Soldering in mechanical room
- Dec. 11: Dust from floor buffer
- Dec. 12: Someone activated a pull-box alarm
- Dec. 12: Styrofoam melted in oven
- Dec. 16: Spray paint in smoke detector
- Dec. 19: Welding in mechanical room
- Dec. 21: Water from roof leak set off detector
- Dec. 28: Water flow in sprinkler system
- Jan. 2: Soldering in attic
- Jan. 8: Smoke detector inexplicably went into alarm
- Jan. 8: Tea kettle melted to stove
- Jan. 9: Food left unattended on hot stove
- Jan. 15: Someone leaned against a fire alarm pull box
- Jan. 15: No cause for the alarm could be found
- Jan. 16: Use of cutting torch in mechanical room
- Jan. 16: Food left unattended on hot stove
- Jan. 18: Dust in smoke detector
- Jan. 20: Smoke in cooking area caused by faulty exhaust fan
- Jan. 21: Overheated elevator motor
- Jan. 26: Malfunction of equipment affected new alarm system
- Jan. 28: Smoke from frying food
- Jan. 29: Smoke in cooking area caused by faulty exhaust fan
- Feb. 4: Water in smoke detector
- Feb. 4: Food left unattended on hot stove
- eb. 9: Smoke from faulty light ballast
- Feb. 10: Possibly steam from opening bag of popcorn
- Feb. 11: Smoke in cooking area caused by faulty exhaust fan
- Feb. 17: Using spray paint near smoke detector
- Feb. 17: Dust generated by concrete saw
- Feb. 24: Someone pulled a pull box
- Mar. 1: Exhaust fumes from running engine in shop
- Mar. 5: Smoky haze in hallway--no cause found
- Mar. 6: Dirt in smoke detector
- Mar. 7: Smoking cigarette under smoke detector
Obviously, most of these alarms were caused by carelessness. Workers need to be more attentive of what activity will likely set off a fire alarm. And several cooks appear to have been somewhat absent-minded. In several cases, however, it was a good thing the fire alarm went off--calling attention to a situation that could have been very damaging if not caught in time.
The alarm on December 12 (when someone purposely activated the fire alarm for no reason) was a true false alarm and could have delayed the response to the next alarm. It is this kind of alarm that causes the most concern and is prosecuted whenever possible.
The number of fire alarms on campus could be greatly reduced if we just pay more attention to our surroundings and what we are doing. Fire alarms disrupt campus life: classes, labs, special activities, office activity, sleep, etc. It is the goal of the Environmental Health & Safety Department to reduce the number of fire alarms on campus through education, maintenance of alarm systems, and a smoke detector cleaning program.