HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The Board of Trustees here approved a false fire alarm ordinance that will require repeat offenders to pay $750 for each false alarm.
The majority of the township’s false fire alarms come from commercial and industrial locations, reports Mlive.com. The Holland Township Fire Department responds to an average of 100 false alarms annually, and most are recurrences due to automated equipment. As a result, it costs the department roughly $500 per call to respond to an alarm at an industrial plant because fire procedures require that two fire units respond to industrial calls.
Under the new ordinance, the board will send out a letter for excessive false fire alarms after a company or resident has two false alarms in the same year. The letter requires a return report stating that service repair and corrective action has been taken on automated fire alarms. Failure to respond to the letter will cost users $500 for the first two false alarms and $750 for subsequent false alarms.
