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Fire officials flag false-alarm trend; council discusses fines and pet oxygen masks
Summary
The fire department reported a high number of false alarms and malfunction-driven responses; council members discussed fines, code enforcement and expanding pet oxygen mask availability on rescue apparatus.
The council heard a fire-department update showing numerous false alarms and raised questions about enforcement and equipment to help pets during fires.
A fire-department representative reported the department responded to 446 alarms for the year, including 28 fires, 31 rescue/EMS incidents and a high number of false alarms. The representative said 24 of the false alarms stemmed from malfunctions. "A 24 in words due to malfunctions," the speaker said while describing the breakdown.
Council members asked whether the city has fines or programs to deter repeat false alarms. One council member recalled a county program that fines after repeated responses; the fire representative and other council members said the city has enacted measures but records and enforcement practices should be reviewed. "When we go to a place multiple times, we just call it code enforcement," the fire representative said, and the department is beginning to log incidents in a new records system.
Council members and staff also discussed pet-specific rescue equipment. A council member said she had provided pet oxygen masks after a recent house fire and asked whether each rescue unit carried them. The fire representative said two vehicles currently carried pet oxygen masks and welcomed coordination to increase availability. "There's 1 on our rescue, and I think 3 0 has 1 too," the fire representative said; another council member responded that more masks would be useful for families.
The discussion highlighted administrative gaps: records of past false-alarm ordinances and the need to confirm which false-alarm systems (burglar vs. fire-suppression) are covered by fines. The fire representative said the new incident-logging system will record why alarms are canceled (malfunction, smoke, cooking, etc.), which should help identify repeat offenders.
No formal council action was taken at the meeting on fines or equipment procurement; council members asked staff to follow up with records and to explore broader enforcement options and equipment placement.
