Moriarty Fire Chief Steve Spann says he's got a situation similar to the Aesop's Fables story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." His department was called out on roughly 15 false alarms last year from the Moriarty-Edgewood School District, he said. That is the majority of false alarms the department has responded to last year, he said.
Most of the calls have come from the elementary, middle and high schools, with the fewest calls coming from Mountainview Elementary. Spann added that this is the same pattern he's seen during the past three years that he's been fire chief. He said he recently met with Moriarty-Edgewood School District Superintendent Karen Couch to discuss the issue and see what can be done about it. "That can become a life safety issue, because if the detectors aren't working properly, then how do we know it will detect fire or smoke?" The school district is, in fact, one of the larger employers in the area and the buildings come with a lot of requirements for sensors and fire protection. The district may simply have more equipment, and therefore more potential for that equipment to malfunction. But Spann said he feels it is actually an issue with the systems, and one that should probably be addressed by the system providers. "I don't know if it's a maintenance issue ... I can't say. That's not in my area," he said.
"We actually do annual inspections for the schools. Most of the problems can be resolved by the alarm company or people that service them getting with the school." Couch, for her part, said that some of the calls were probably legitimate, and that she doesn't feel there are excessive problems with the schools.
She said that the new construction at Moriarty Middle School probably caused four or five false alarms because of construction dust. She also said that when the district staff smells gas, they often call the fire department.
However, staff members were recently trained regarding the steps to take before making the call, so there may be some improvement there, she said.
"From my perspective, some of those calls were legitimate," she said.
Spann said he plans on meeting with Couch in the coming weeks to discuss the matter again.
Copyright 2012 Albuquerque Journal
