PITTSFILED, Ill. — The city council here has approved the first reading for a false fire alarm ordinance.
Under the proposed ordinance, alarm owners will get a written warning for the first false alarm. Offenders would then have to pay $200 for the second and $250 for a third. If the third nuisance alarm occurs within a 30-day period, alarm owners must pay a $200 service charge. Subsequent false alarms within the same 30-day period will result in another $200 fee and an additional $50 charge, Herald-Whig reports.
The ordinance is a way to offset the growing number of false alarms handled by the fire department, according to city officials. If approved, it would also require alarm owners to contact the fire department or the monitoring company before conducting and after completing tests on the system.
