False Alarm

Early one October evening we were toned out to a fire alarm at a small commercial building that was not equipped with an alarm system. While we were enroute, dispatch advised us that an occupant in a nearby office had called it in when she heard the alarm going off through the wall. I assumed that one of the occupants had taken our advice and installed a smoke detector.

As we approached the building we could hear an alarm coming from the small engine repair shop on the west end of the building, though no smoke or flames were to be seen. After we gained entry to the shop we searched for the activated smoke detector. The open area made the echoing noise of the device hard to pinpoint. On the ceiling I could see a smoke detector that wasn't working, but I still heard the alarm. With no apparent hazards in the shop, I sent the two firefighters to continue searching the building. A few minutes later they returned and stated that there were no hazards, dropping a small box at our feet as they spoke. The alarm stopped. It was then we realized that the alarm we had heard was a low battery signal coming from an electric lawn mower in the box.

Holding back our laughter, we informed the reporting party what the source of the alarm was. She told us that it was making the same noise she had heard in a fire prevention presentation given to her daughter's 1st grade class earlier in the week. Obviously we were fooled too.

Chris Blakenship
Lieutenant
Greater Eagle Fire Protection District
Eagle, CO