Leader Staff
Firefighters responded to three fire calls at the Shawano Housing Authority’s Parkside Apartments on Thursday. All of them were false alarms caused by the cold weather.
“We had cold air seeping in, and when you have that mix of hot and cold air, you get condensation forming,” said Jeff Zimmerman, a fire inspector with the Shawano Area Fire Department.
The condensation affected the smoke detectors at the apartments, located at 725 S. Main St., setting off fire alarms at 7:37 p.m., 8:13 p.m. and 10:09 p.m.
Though it was quickly determined the first call had been a false alarm, the Fire Department sent one truck to respond to the subsequent calls just in case.
Zimmerman said cold weather setting off fire alarms is a fairly common problem, though this is the first time it has happened this year.
“It comes in spurts,” he said.
Zimmerman said he would review the incident with Fire Chief Doug Knope to determine whether the housing authority should be charged for the calls.
City ordinances call for a charge of $50 for third and fourth offense false alarms within one year. However, the ordinance also exempts false alarms caused by “abnormal weather.”
Luckily, firefighters didn’t have to be paged when the calls came in. Everyone was already at the fire station for a department meeting, Zimmerman said.