Automatic systems cause 56,000 false fire alarms a year

AMSTERDAM – Dutch Internal Affairs Minister Piet Hein Donner wants to curtail the number of false fire alarms by rethinking the regulations for automatic fire alarms. He has gone on record saying he wants to restrict the compulsory systems to hospitals, daycare centres and senior care homes, places with many people who likely require help with evacuation in case of an emergency. The security guard industry opposes the idea, arguing that precious time may be wasted in getting emergency vehicles out but fire departments are relieved by the proposed changes, noting that last year they rushed off to 56,000 cases, which turned out to be a false alarm. Their umbrella group also pointed to the dangers with emergency vehicles unnecessarily on the road. It also noted that with so many false alarm cases personnel are starting to think that an alarm may be just another false report.