It seems like many people that have accidentally activated a pull station by bumping it have tried to stop the alarms by pulling back up the lever and couldn’t do it. I’ve started wondering, what if such were actually possible? Would there be less false alarm evacuations? Would there be less cases of the fire department showing up at buildings when there’s no emergency?
Interesting,
But the way i see it is, a prankster could easily pull and then reset the alarm.
Soulution to the accidental activation problem: hinged Stopper IIs with horns.
Edit: But, you can already do this with certain pulls, such as the [REDACTED], the [REDACTED], and the [REDACTED].
Couple of problems with this. And let’s for the sake of argument assume pulling the alarm activates the NACs and calls the FD, returning the pull station to the normal position silences the NACs and cancels the FD. And this could be accomplished without a key or tool.
1.) Someone legitimately pulling the alarm could in good intentions deactivate the alarm right after pulling it. We’ve all been taught to turn off the lights after leaving a room. Also, alarms are loud, and someone activating it may think it’s too much noise for such a little fire. Evacuation and FD response is delayed.
2.) Person A pulls the alarm because they see a fire somewhere. Then they run out of the building. Person B hears the alarm and goes to investigate what’s going on. Sees the activated pull station, doesn’t see any fire (because it’s in another room), and puts it back to the normal position thinking some kid was playing a joke. Again, evacuation and FD response is delayed.
3.) If someone without good intentions wants to fool around, they could stand by a pull station and quickly ring the NACs on/off. Wouldn’t really cause anyone to evacuate but would be disruptive to the building. Pulling the fire alarm is a commitment - make it one!
Best defense against truly accidental alarm activation are Stoppers (doesn’t really need to be a squealer, just having that physical barrier is good enough). That’s why you’ll see them in gyms, areas where people might be standing around waiting and might bump into a pull station, or outdoor or harsh environment areas. If you are trying to stop malicious activation, again Stoppers or key activated pull stations work well.
I do have a picture to upload but keep getting error messages. If I can get it to work later I’ll post it.
Am I right in that in some buildings in some areas they are required to evacuate the building if the fire alarm goes off even just for a second?
Depends on the jurisdiction. And the policies of who ever is occupying the building. There’s a couple of schools I’ve been in where I was told absolutely no alarms because they are required to evacuate even if the alarms only go off for a couple seconds. Who actually required that is questionable, but I would assume it was a district policy. Then there are jurisdictions where even if the alarm goes off accidently and the fire department is dispatched, only the fire department can silence the alarm. If someone in the building silenced the alarm they could get hit with a fine. Usually there are warning stickers on the fire alarm panel in those places.
Many places in New York are like that. In the case of a college campus, campus police is allowed to silence the alarm, but most places only allow the fire department to silence outside of a scheduled drill. Evacuation of most schools and buildings is required even if the alarm goes off for a couple seconds.