By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer
CRANBURY — Officials from Cranbury’s Volunteer Fire Department said they are working with some local businesses to decrease the amount of false alarms they’ve seen in past months.
Out of the 30 calls the department received in April and May, 19 of those were false alarms, said Committeeman Thomas Panconi on June 9.
Fire Chief Sam DiStasio said there could be several reasons why a fire alarm is triggered.
”It could be dirt in the alarm or a faulty switch,” he said. “There’s no way to know.”
Although, Chief DiStasio could not give an estimate, he did say that the department does incur some cost when responding to these false alarms.
However, he said that every time the department starts up a vehicle some cost is incurred.
”We’ve been keeping track and talking with property owners,” Chief DiStasio said. “We’ve been able to work with them.”
If a business or residence has several false alarms, township officials recommend the location seek the assistance of a professional, he said.
If the problem persists the township will issue a citation, he said.
According to Chapter 46 of the township’s municipal code, any alarm system which has three or more false alarms within a registration year is subject to a fine of $250 for each false alarm over three.
Regardless of whether a specific location has been habitually guilty of false alarms, the department will always respond, Chief DiStasio said.
”We don’t know it’s a false alarm until we get there,” he said.
