False alarms at OHCHS add up

OXFORD HILLS —  False alarms at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School have frequently triggered a response from local fire departments, but the smoke detectors' positions in the building make a permanent solution to the false reports difficult. 

According to Paris Fire Chief Brad Frost, his department responded to around 20 calls to OHCHS last year for false alarms, but for the last six to eight weeks no calls have come in. And, when an alarm goes off at the high school, Norway and Paris fire departments and PACE are automatically dispatched. If there was an actual fire, more than one department would be required to fight it.

The problem, fire chiefs and administrators agree, isn't malfunctioning smoke detectors, but their location in the building.

OHCHS Principal Ted Moccia says three smoke detectors account for most of the false alarms. Though he disagrees Paris fire has been called 20 times, he says there have been more frequent false alarms in the past year. 

The detectors that most often give false alarms are near the culinary school and the auto shop, Moccia says.

Burnt food sometimes sets off the alarms, but dust and particles in the air from the shop also get picked up by the sensors, Moccia says.

"The issue is that its location and its proximity to its classrooms where some air current might come and maybe get some car bond-o dust or something ... into it [sensor] and what winds up happening is the alarm will go off because of that," Moccia says.

Moccia says the school regularly cleans and inspects the detectors according to a schedule.

Frost confirms that the smoke detectors are often set off by stray dust and dirt particles riding the air current and hitting the sensors.

"You can feel the wind come in behind you if you go from the auto-body shop into the hallway," Frost explains. "It would just draw those particles in there and set that [alarm] off."

The alarms, far from being faulty, are doing their job, says SAD 17 Facilities Director David Marshall who agreed with the 20 alarm estimation.

"There's nothing wrong at the high school," Marshall says. "They [smoke detectors] work like they are supposed to work and we replace them if they are broken."

The system is inspected every year by a private fire alarm company and the district replaces malfunctioning equipment immediately, Marshall says.

Still, any number of things like dust, metal particles, engine exhaust or burning food can cause an alarm.

Someone may have forgotten to turn on an exhaust fan or an air current from an open door blew dust into the sensor. Even powder stirred up from buffing the floor can trigger the smoke detector, Marshall says. 

"Usually if it's [smoke detector] going off, it's because somebody's doing something, it's not because of a bad sensor," Marshall says.

"In other words, it's doing what it's supposed to do."

Although not the only school to record false alarms, it happens more frequently at OHCHS, probably due to the school's pace of activity, Marshall says.  

The school has recorded false alarms since it was built, Marshall says. Every time there is a false alarm, school officials determine the cause, but finding out what sets off the detectors is a learning process.

"Every time the alarm goes off at the high school, we ask: 'what caused it?'" Marshall says.

Moccia says he and School Resource Officer Skip Mowatt work quickly to determine the cause of the alarm and the fire department is alerted immediately if it's found.

At the same time, Moccia says, the school treats every alarm as if it is an active emergency.

Moccia says the school is working with fire departments to research ways to reposition the detectors to prevent false alarms, but regulations make it difficult.

"There are some guidelines that we have to follow that may not allow us to move them," Moccia says, "but we're researching that and looking at that currently."

Marshall says he's aware of no discussion about repositioning the alarms. In any case, the entire point of having a detector is to be sensitive to possible smoke, not be in a position so it can't be triggered, he says.

Smoke detector positions need to be approved by the fire marshal before a system is even installed, Marshall says – schools are very limited in their ability to reposition alarms.

The protocol for each alarm, Frost says, is to mobilize a truck and a ladder and request a truck from Norway.

According to Norway Fire Chief Dennis Yates, the department also mobilizes a truck and a ladder, as well as its command vehicle to the OHCHS calls.

Yates estimates between 12 and 25 Norway firefighters are mobilized for a call to OHCHS. Frost said he brings a minimum crew of seven.

Getting the vehicles and crew together can be expensive.

"If I had to bill that out it would probably be $250 for my engine, $350 for the ladder and whatever my time is; my guys get $11.50 an hour," Frost says.

Yates estimates responding costs Norway FD between $250 and $300.

Because there is no billing for fire alarms, the cost comes out of the fire deparment's budget, Frost says.

Repeatedly responding to the same false alarms is frustrating, Frost says, but there is no alternative.

"You've got to respond," he says.

"If a fire alarm [call] comes in, you treat it like a fire until proven otherwise. You have to, otherwise you're going to get caught with your pants down."