The Town of the Blue Mountains (TBM) is hoping to reduce the number of false alarm calls made to its fire department.
“One thing that is concerning is the number of false alarms we see,” said Mayor Alar Soever at a TBM committee of the whole meeting held earlier today. “False alarms are about half the calls and we are spending a lot of money on that.”
TBM fire chief Steve Conn was present at today’s virtual meeting to present the TBM Fire Department’s 2019 annual report to TBM council.
The fire department's annual report shows the department received 264 calls in 2019, which was 15 more than in 2018. False alarms accounted for 124 of those calls.
The report notes that false alarms have always been an issue in the TBM, due to “the unusually high number of both commercial and residential occupancies with fire alarm systems”.
Conn said the department does see a lot of what he refers to as “non-emergency activations,” which can be caused by a number of things, such as smoke from cooking or faulty smoke detector devices.
“We are encouraging people to keep their alarms within their homes up-to-date and current,” Conn said.
With two stations, The Blue Mountains Fire Department (TBMFD) reports both stations responded to a proportionally similar number of calls in 2019. Station one received 120 calls, 48 of which were false alarms. Station two received 144 calls, with 76 false alarms.
The report also outlines that 33 per cent of calls were received in the summer months and 72 per cent of all calls occurred Monday through Friday.
According to Soever, the TBM does have a fine process in place for false alarms, which was increased in the previous town budget, but says the issue is still consuming too much of the TBMFD’s time and resources.
“We did increase the fines for false alarms last year in the budget and the false alarm billing program did generate a bit of cash,” said Soever. “But, this report is showing that false alarms are still an issue that consumes quite a bit of the resources.”
According to the 2019 annual report from the TBMFD, the false alarm billing program generated $4,100 in 2019.
The town’s 2020 budget outlines that the TBMFD’s transfers and expenses in 2019 totalled $1,683,698. Through subsidies, grants and donations and external revenue the department generated $38,303, leaving a net cost of services that falls to taxation, of $1,645,395.
“We do not want to penalize any homeowner for putting an alarm system in their home, because we have found that they are quite advantageous to that early detection, which is quite important,” said Conn, explaining that the TBMFD provides residents with one false alarm per year before proceeding with fines.
“If we go back two or three times throughout the year [to the same residence], then there is a stepped billing process in place,” Conn said.
According to Conn, a resident who has had several false alarm calls to TBMFD is charged $300, adding that if the homeowner then has their fire alarm serviced, they can be eligible for a partial refund.
“If they can show that they have rectified that device, then we will credit them back half the price of that alarm,” said Conn.
The TBMFD’s annual report also noted the department conducted 883 inspections in 2019, something Soever says is making a difference when it comes to fire loss.
“There have been three fires with a loss this year [2019] and it is only a total of $20,000 through the three events. I think that is an excellent record and speaks to the amount of fire prevention and inspections that we do as well,” he said.
Soever also made note of the staffing makeup at TBMFD, pointing out that the department’s reliance on paid volunteer firefighters is one thing that is helping to reduce costs.
“We have an excellent contingent of volunteer firefighters as well, which keeps our costs at a very modest level relative to Collingwood and Owen Sound,” Soever said.
According to the TBM 2020 budget, the TBMFD employed a range of 33 to 36 volunteer firefighters in 2019.
