The Central Falls City Council has approved $50,000 for the local fire department’s bid to purchase a wireless alarm system. The wireless system would allow residents to pay between $800 and $1,000 for new alarms that would send a signal to the firehouse as well as to another alarm box that repeats the signal, ensuring the fire station received it.
It would also alert the fire department that a fire alarm’s battery is old.
The Central Falls Fire Chief Rene Coutu told The Providence Journal changes in state fire code have required more than 50 homes and businesses without fire systems connected to the fire department to get them.
Structures with eight to 13 units built before 1976 were grandfathered in, but new codes require alarm systems to be connected to the fire department in such structures. Businesses with more than two stories must also have alarms, the paper reports.
The Central Falls Fire Department will maintain both systems, eventually switching to wireless only.
