http://www.kotatv.com/localnews/story.asp?ID=13129

Fees May Apply for Fire Department Visit
12/10/2002 12:52:20 PM
Chad Rego

The old saying it’s better to be safe than sorry certainly applies to the fire department. The fire department responds to every call, even false alarms. Every time a fire engine leaves the station on what ends up being a false alarm, it costs money and weakens emergency response capabilities. The Rapid City Fire Department knows that many false alarms are unavoidable, but those that are could be costly. Mark Kirchgesler of the Rapid City Fire Department says, “The Fire Prevention Division is looking at the idea of charging for places that have an excessive amount of false alarms due to poor maintenance or inadequacies in their fire alarm systems.” Kirchgesler says false alarms are most common in the spring; the humidity wreaks havoc on electronic alarm systems.