News

Recurring false fire alarms is a global concern as the problem continues to be a strain for the fire service, schools, businesses, and the public. Most buildings often indicate false fire alarms are among their biggest fire safety challenges.

With fire safety being a main concern in today’s world, it is vital to have minimal interruptions to customers, employees, students, staff and structure. Building owners have a responsibility to help keep visitors secure, and a failure of that obligation can put everyone involved at risk.

The Alarming Cost of False Alarms

One of the most obvious costs of a false fire alarm is the impact on a business. False alarms cause expensive disruptions to operations, such as evacuating a building and shutting down productivity. In addition, businesses may be charged for repeated and unnecessary emergency service responses which can be a significant expense for facilities.

False alarms cost building owners more than $100 million in 2020. In the same year, false alarms also accounted for $1.8 billion in wasted police time and resources (Center for Problem-Oriented Policing).

Those numbers are unacceptable. Failure to take meaningful action could have disastrous consequences for citizens, building owners, and security officers. Officials are convinced that the false fire alarm problem may well be the worst enemy facing the fire safety industry today and makes them question whether they need to increase personnel and resources to respond and prevent these chronic false alarms.

Posing a Problem

Fire departments in the United States reported 896,500 false fire alarms in 1980. Since that time the number has grown by more than 230 percent to an astonishing 2.12 million (National Fire Protection Association [NFPA] of Quincy, Massachusetts).

Repeated false alarms can result in disastrous incidents when the public is unresponsive to the sounding of fire alarms in buildings, which can potentially cause fatal effects. Individuals become unconcerned and do not heed the threat against their safety.

Alarm fatigue is inevitable when there are frequent false alarms because of reluctancy to comply, leaving people vulnerable to risks of fires. If false alarms persist, individuals become conditioned to believe the warning is fake, and when a legitimate alarm sounds it fails to attract the needed attention to the emergency. This complacency leads to loss of revenue, waste of resources and even sometimes fatalities.

A few easily maintainable building upgrades can help make false alarms—and other safety concerns—avoidable.

Preventing false fire alarms saves possible municipal fees, prevents considerable drain on fire authority resources, and helps reduce building disruptions, lost revenue, saves lives, stops unnecessary gatherings and a loss of productivity from employees, staff members, customers and students. Safety Technology International (STI) started as a solution to this problem over 40 years ago.

Make False Fire Alarms a Thing of the Past

Educating building owners, inspectors, responsible persons and the general public to be proactive about preventing malicious activation can contribute significantly to false alarm reduction.

One immediate and sufficient way to help drastically reduce false fire alarm risks—and sometimes eliminate them—is to install high quality and dependable protective polycarbonate covers approved by fire marshals or Underwriter Laboratory (UL Listed). Cost-effective clear covers within the industry are use-proven and mount directly to the wall over existing manual pull stations and help discourage someone from triggering a false alarm. The professionally engineered covers do not restrict a legitimate alarm from being activated.

STI’s Universal Stopper® protective cover is specifically designed to help deter false fire alarms or accidental activation of manual pull stations. Proven effective for over 40 years, the polycarbonate cover fits over fire alarms and is highly successful in protecting manual pull stations.

When the Universal Stopper cover is lifted, it flashes, and a loud warning horn will sound locally. Immediate attention is drawn to the area before a false alarm is pulled. The full range of covers offer excellent protection against false fire alarms, physical damage (both accidental and intentional), dust and grime as well as severe environments inside and out. Available in a wide range of sizes and mounting options for indoors or outdoors, the covers are easy to install before a building is occupied or retrofit while in operation. The high-quality covers are UL/cUL Listed and ADA Compliant.

40+ Years of Experience

Safety Technology International (STI) is a long-time trusted manufacturer of fire, safety and security products that help deter false alarms, alert to emergency situations, prevent theft and minimize damage to equipment in buildings around the world.

For all your fire alarm needs, STI offers a variety of cabinets, enclosures, cages, alarms and custom or touch-free buttons.

For over 40 years you can Rely on STI® for covers, cages, alarms and buttons. Find more information on Safety Technology International at www.sti-usa.com/ses15 or call 248-673-9898.