Conn. man in house, unaware it was on fire until alarm co. calls

[x635 4,066]

Conn. man in house, unaware it was on fire until alarm co. calls

• February 27, 2009

POMFRET, Conn. (AP) - Pomfret fire officials say a homeowner apparently was unaware his house was on fire until his alarm company called him.

FULL STORY: http://www.lohud.com/article/20090227/NEWS/902270395

[FFFORD 27]

detectors save lives!

[Guest]

Last fire I ran this was the case as well, as long as everyone makes it out. Thank goodness this wasn't like some alarm companies that can take 10, 15, 25+ minutes to process an AFA

[jack10562 414]

If he had interconnected fire/smoke alarms, that could have made a difference in him hearing an activation in another part of the house.

[Guest]

Smoke detectors are always nice

[SteveOFD 176]

Last fire I ran this was the case as well, as long as everyone makes it out. Thank goodness this wasn't like some alarm companies that can take 10, 15, 25+ minutes to process an AFA

Your claim that an alarm signal takes 10 to 25+ minutes to process, is an issue that, IMO, requires the IMMEDIATE attention of the local Authority Having Jurisdiction(AHJ). This claim contradicts all standards, that professional Fire Alarm Installation Companies MUST abide by. When it comes to Fire Alarm Systems, there is very little room that an Alarm Installation Company can deviate from the required Codes.

NFPA Standard 72, "The National Fire Alarm Code" 2007 edition, section 8.2.1 Alarm Signal Disposition, states "...all fire alarm signals received by a supervising station shall immediately be retransmitted to the public fire service communications center." (bold added). This means that when a Central Station receives a fire alarm signal they must immediately notify the local Fire Department. This signal cannot be delayed by verifying at the premises. There have been instances where the wrong FD is notified for the wrong address. This is an issue with the Installation/Service Company not verifying the correct information when the Monitoring Information is submitted to the Central Station. In this Standard there is no definition of a Central Station. The terminology for a "Central Station" is Supervising Station, as noted in the above section.

As for the incident from the OP, this is a case where the installation company apparently did not follow this standard and did not provide for the proper amount of notification devices.

I strongly recommend that you provide the facts for your claim to the AHJ(Fire Inspector, Fire Marshal, Fire Chief, etc.) of this jurisdiction, so that this installation/service company can be held responsible for its' actions (or in this case inaction). If your claim (slow dispatch) repeats itself with another AFA that is actually activated for a fire, there could be tragic consequences.

Myself, and the other professional Security Installation Companies of this industry, spend alot of time training, studying codes, and installing Systems so that they function correctly and limit false activations.

I can direct you to your local and State Alarm Associations that can assist you (or I will assist you myself) in getting this issue addressed.

Steve Pendzuk

Total Protection Unlimited Inc.

NY, CT, NJ Licensed

Edited February 28, 2009 by SteveOFD