Unnecessary alarms: "It's getting to the point"

Despite complaints for years, the number of avoidable alarms for fire brigades in the city area by fire alarm systems has not decreased - on the contrary.

Commander Markus Grasl is now calling for stricter controls.

At least in the seaside resort, the city sees an improvement.

Starnberg

- 88 out of 278. That is mathematically 31.65 percent.

That is how high the proportion of alarms for the Starnberg fire brigade in 2020 that were triggered by fire alarm systems (BMA) is.

These still include a lot of false alarms due to technical defects in the systems, operating errors, construction work (while the systems should actually mostly be switched off) - there are too many for the commander in charge, Markus Grasl.

He is now calling for specific fire inspections, i.e. tests to determine whether the systems are in the correct condition.

He gets backing from District Fire Chief Peter Bauch, and Starnberg's Mayor Patrick Janik is also familiar with the subject.

With some alarms, the active members of the armed forces already suspect what is going on.

Take a seaside resort, for example: It has been closed and empty for months, so the risk of fire is rather low.

The fire brigade went there ten times in 2020, day and night.

The clinic and staff apartments are on the list twelve times, the Malteserstift 13 times.

The Pöckinger Beccult is new with five alarms - there is also little going on except in the kitchen of the restaurant due to Corona.

“It doesn't get better,” says Grasl, who has already called for improvements several times.

The problem has existed for many years.

But it has worsened, among other things by the seaside resort.

The fire brigade has gone there 30 times since it opened in August 2018.

Above all, the false alarms are causing problems for the defense.

“It is ruining us,” Grasl fears for the motivation of his volunteers and the willingness of young people to go to the fire brigade.

“We have to go there, of course,” but going out on avoidable alarms leads to frustration.

Michael Aulehner, who has been with the fire brigade for 40 years, has been involved for a long time.

“It's especially annoying at night,” he says, because you actually know that there is nothing in certain buildings.

Not all objects are created equal for the active - the Maltese pen, for example, is not a big issue because it is about protecting the elderly.

The situation is also different with triggered home smoke alarms, because the triggering usually has a reason - burnt food, for example, which can easily mutate into a kitchen fire.

What annoys firefighters are the missions that don't have to be, for which they get out of bed at night and from their desk during the day.

It is certain that they will appear for action - it could always really be an emergency.

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Markus Grasl is the commandant in Starnberg

© FFW

Markus Grasl is now calling for fire alarm systems to be part of special fire inspections because he classifies the false alarm as a motivational brake as a dangerous condition.

Special fire examinations can then also be carried out.

In simple terms, a fire inspection is a review of the entire fire protection of a private or public building by the respective municipality.

Grasl demands that it should also be checked whether the fire alarms are correctly installed, the personnel have been instructed and the system is in good working order in detail.

District fire chief Peter Bauch is fully on Grasl's line: “It goes to the bottom.” He sees the owners as having a duty to keep their systems in order and to ensure correct operation.

The background to such demands: There are plenty of examples in which dishwashers are placed under smoke alarms - steam is like smoke, the alarm goes off, the fire brigade comes even though only the door has been opened.

Bauch also cites the age of some systems as a reason, normally detectors should be replaced after about eight years, but some are twelve or more years old and therefore often more susceptible.

The district fire chief considers a poorly maintained BMA to be inoperable - and therefore a case for the district office.

Bauch leaves no doubt that the fire brigade always comes: "A BMA alarm is a fire until one is on site and is convinced that it is not so."

The building supervision in the district office sees its own possibilities restricted - one can only take action if a BMA prescribed by a building permit does not function sufficiently, it says there.

That would possibly lead to a usage ban.

The fire exhibition is a bit of a sore point in Starnberg: it never actually took place in the necessary framework.

Mayor Patrick Janik admits that this was not an issue for years (“it just wasn't done”), but a position has now been created for it.

However, the employee currently has other tasks (also because of Corona), setting up a system for the fire inspection is anything but easy.

Therefore, it will be some time before fire viewing becomes the norm.

At the seaside resort, Janik hopes, the problems should be solved: Further training courses have been carried out because there have been operating errors.

Town hall spokeswoman Lena Choi added on request that various smoke alarms in the seaside resort had been replaced or their sensitivity changed. “We don't want to shout it out, but no further alarms have occurred since the last false alarm on February 23. We hope that the latest improvement measures will lead to the desired result. "