Fire House Facts & Cautions About False Alarms

02/29/2012 | Kayla Holiman, Fire Inspector

The Yuma Fire Department responded to 244 emergency calls for service

• 8 Commercial Assignments
  Including: A fire at the Quartermaster Depot, an unattended cooking fire in an apartment, two fire alarm pull stations that were falsely triggered, a vehicle fire, and various alarms
• 1 Mutual Aid Assignment
  Including: A call to assist Imperial County Sherriff’s Office with a multi patient incident
• 21 Motor Vehicle Crashes
  Including: 2 involving a pedestrian, 1 involving three vehicles, and a head on collision resulting in two fatalities
• 192 Other Medical Emergencies (serious to minor)
  Including: 13 for difficulty breathing, 9 for chest pain, 29 fall victims, 8 unconscious people, 4 seizure cases, 17 people with psychiatric problems, 42 trauma injuries, 2 diabetic emergencies, 1 allergic reaction, and other illnesses and injuries
• 22 Special Duty, Public Assistance, and Residential Assignments
  Including: A child locked in a bathroom at a business, a propane fire from a barbeque grill, a broken natural gas line at a residence, an unauthorized burn at a residence, a vehicle fire, and various alarms

False Alarms

Last week the Yuma Fire Department responded to 2 commercial fire alarms that turned out to be falsely triggered by someone who set off the alarm knowing there was no fire. Setting off a false alarm is not only against the law; it puts other people's lives in danger. Every time emergency vehicles respond, there is a chance of a crash occurring. People that pull false alarms are legally responsible for any harm that comes from their act.

Annually there are up to a quarter million falsely triggered alarms reported to U.S. Fire Departments. Every year, some of those responses end in tragedies. Another serious concern is while fire personnel are tied up on false alarms, they are not able to respond (or their response is delayed) to the medical emergencies that make up more than 80% of our calls for service.

Alarms are even occasionally triggered intentionally, but not maliciously, by very small children. Children just learning to read see the word "PULL" written on a fire alarm and, not knowing the true purpose of a Fire Alarm, simply follow the direction! Please, have a talk with your children about what alarms do and the dangers of pulling false alarms. Explain to them the lives they are endangering and the risks they are taking. Pulling a false alarm is playing with fire!

For More Information

If you have questions or need more information, please contact Mike Erfert or Kayla Holiman at 373-4850.