CS Fire Survey: False Alarms Still An Epidemic
According to the December 2008 Campus Safety fire survey, half of college, K-12 school and hospital fire safety professionals say systems maintenance is one of their top four fire protection challenges. More than 48 percent also indicated false alarms are a significant problem.
Integration with other non-fire systems, such as mass notification, is another challenge that was most often checked by participants. Of the 447 campus officials who took the survey, 141 (32 percent) marked this option as one of their top four concerns.
The study points out another problem that must be addressed: K-12 school fire code non-compliance. One in five schools say their systems do not comply with National Fire Protection Association code.
Other highlights include:
- Half of all respondents are currently evaluating detection systems or might or might not install a new system, depending on circumstances
- Compared to 2008, 62 percent of respondents will have the same amount of money or more to spend on new or upgraded fire systems in 2009
- The average number of fires or fire-related incidents campuses have experienced in the past three years is five
Click here to view the Campus Fire Facts Survey
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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