Can the fire department fine me for a fog machine setting of a alarm at school and showing up with 3 trucks.?

Question

I was shooting a film at school using a fog machine and the fire alarm went off. However I am not positive it was the fog machine that set it off because 2 janitors ran by the room and I heard that they thought it was smoke and pulled the alarm, I am not sure though. Anyways we told a teach after all 3 thousand students where out of the school that it was probably the fog machine. Anyways we talked to the principal about it and he said he would let us off because it was an accident and a teacher knew about it plus we told a teacher it was us. Well he said that the fire department might fine the school for the alarm going off without an actually emergency and the school would make my group pay it. The principle said once a student pulled the fire alarm before as a prank and had to pay $1000 for the fire department coming. Is this legal and would I have to pay this? Any input would be helpful

The only person who knew was the Film and movies teacher and he knew I had a fog machine but he was the only one. I am not sure if the janitors pulled the alarm but I tried out the machine at home and no alarm went off in my home so I don't see how this would happen. .

Answer 1

It is unlikely that you or the school will be fined for this. This isn't a false alarm, this is defined as a good intent alarm. The janitors thought they saw smoke so they pulled the alarm, it's not the job of the janitors to investigate whether it's real smoke or not. The kid that pulled the fire alarm before probably did it with ill intent, i.e. to get out of an exam. Yes it costs alot to roll appartatus to a scene, but that's why people pay taxes or donate to their volunteer Fire Dept. so that when there is an emergency someone will show up. Just if there is a next time, make sure that school admin is aware of what is going on prior to using the fog machine.

Answer 2

The fire dept can issue the school a fine. Usually after a dept responds to a location on a consistent basis for false alarms, the department then may issue a fine or try to fix what is continuing to cause the false activation....the fine is usually just to say "hey, fix the problem or your gonna pay for it". There are some good points in your story. 1.) your school should practice fire safety and evacuations all the time. 2) if your school is using smoke detectors and or a combination of smoke/heat type detectors, then at least you know they work....school administration should be happy. 3) its nice to see that the janitors pulled the alarms to get evacuations going early, rather that wasting time and endangering people trying to dick around with the fire...if there was one. (and if they did in fact pull the alarm). Anyway, yes the dept can issue a fine but it would be pretty low of them to issue one for something like your case. Malicious false alarm....like intentionally pulling the alarm is a different story. What if a fire engine broadsided a car while responding and killed someone when it was a false alarm? I wont rant and rave about fire dept stuff, but to answer the question.....yes they can issue a fine, hopefully they wont.

Answer 3

I doubt the fire department will send you a fine for this. They are routinely called out to deal with faulty alarms in various businesses. Since you didn't set off the alarm as a prank, they should be understanding. That said, I do hope you had the foresight to notify the school in advance of using the smoke in the film and that it was a school scanctioned activity. If you were acting with their knowledge, then they should have notified the janitors about the smoke so no misunderstandings happened.

Secutiry firms deal with this same sort of problem all the time. As long as it's not a frequent occurance that is occuring because of negligence on your part, the fire department should be understanding. Here in Oregon someone is always calling in brush fires - which often turn out to be intentional burns with fire hoses onsite and people watching them properly. But the fire department goes and checks each one out anyway.

Answer 4

The fog machine did not set off the alarm, you said the janitors pulled the alarm. It doesn't matter you are not going to have to pay an fines. The firemen are not going to set your house on fire and the police are not going to give you any problems. This was not a prank. I was a fireman for 35 years and we answered lots of malfunctioning alarms, it is part of the job.

Answer 5

Yes there will probably be a fine involved. Those trucks and the firemen's time is not cheap. Being out on a false alarm takes up their time and costs. How would you feel if they didn't have time to show up at your house if it were on fire because they were on a false alarm and you lost everything? It is normal for fines to be charged for false alarms here in NC anyway. I know you didn't mean any harm but it did cause problems.

Good luck

Answer 6

If you had permission to flim and the school was aware you were going to use a fog machine, and even if it was the fog machine that set off the alarm, you are in the clear.

Answer 7

No. Fog machines use water. Smoke alarms are looking for air born Carbon Monoxide.

Answer 8

Did the School give you permission to shoot the film, and did they know that you were using a fog machine, If so You can fight it, If not get a lawyer,

Answer 9

It is going to depend on the local ordinance. If the municipality has an ordinance in place to fine for false alarms, then fairly the answer is yes. Most municipalities that I know of dont have such ordinances though so dont sweat it.

Answer 10

I would like to see the answer to this too