GREENSBURG, Pa. — The Greensburg City Council approved an ordinance that would hold property owners accountable for faulty fire alarms. Meaning alarms that go off as a result of a mechanical issue, not due to flames or smoke.
“There has to be some type of penalty. There has to be some reasoning, ya know? When a child gets punished for something, that’s the way they learn. That’s what we’re just trying to do,” said Greensburg Fire Chief Tom Bell. “We just want to make sure that they maintain the fire alarm systems so we aren’t running these calls that we don’t have to be there two or three times a day or every other day or a couple times a week.”
Starting in the new year, property owners can be fined for false alarms if they have more than two false alarms in thirty days or four false alarms in a year. Homeowners can be fined $100, and owners of commercial buildings can be fined $250.
“Last year we had 177 of those calls that were those mechanical-type false alarms,” said Chief Bell. “It’s not a big number when you look at it, but that’s 177 times that we went out that we shouldn’t have if they had just maintained their alarm system.”
If someone doesn’t pay the fine within 30 days, they could lose their occupancy permit and have a lien put on their property to allow the city to recover alarm system repair costs. If the alarm system is fixed within 36 hours, the violation can be waived.
Chief Bell said this ordinance isn’t about the money but about the safety of the community. He said every time they respond to a fire, it puts the public at risk.
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