The Township of Esquimalt has adopted a new false fire alarm bylaw that will assist the Esquimalt Fire Department in reducing its number of false alarm responses. The bylaw was adopted by Council on January 23rd, 2012.
The purpose of the new bylaw is to reduce the number of false alarm responses by the Esquimalt Fire Department. “These false alarms create unnecessary risks to responding crews and the general public and can potentially result in longer response times to actual emergencies,” said Chief Fire Prevention Officer George McGregor.
After three false fire alarms from the same property within a twelve month period, a letter will be sent to the owner or building manager soliciting their help in eliminating any further false alarms and notifying them that any additional false alarms would result in a fine being levied.
If in any 12 month period the Fire Department responds to four or more false alarms originating from the same property, a $200 fine will be levied on the owner of the property for the fourth and each subsequent false alarm.
The new bylaw also provides the Township with the ability to recover costs associated with crews and resources that are tied up at an incident for longer than 30 minutes while waiting for a property owner to appear on-site.
Alarm activation through testing and/or scheduled maintenance will not be considered a false alarm providing prior contact has been made with the department by the owner/manager or alarm company.
Read the full bylaw here.
For more information, please contact:
George McGregor, Assistant Fire Chief and Chief Fire Prevention Officer
Tel: 250-414-7126