Education session explains how NFPA can help address unwanted alarms

The current issue of NFPA Journal covers the large and complex issue of unwanted alarms as the primary focus of changes to the new edition of NFPA 72, along with requirements for testing and maintaining alarm systems and other hot topics.Today at C&E, Ken Willette, John Hall, Lee Richardson and Marty Ahrens (all from NFPA) spoke on this issue during a morning education session. 

Between 1980 and 2009, the number of fire department emergency responses more than doubled from 10.8 million to 26.5 million. Many of these have been determined to be due to "unwanted alarms." In part one of an interview with Ken Willette, he explains what an "unwanted alarm" is and how it's proving to be a major challenge for the fire service.

The second part of the interview includes Ken Willette describing NFPA's response to the problem of "unwanted alarms" and the next steps in crafting a solution.

Mentioned in his interview, is NFPA's research report on "Unwanted Fire Alarms," which was issued following the International Association of Fire Chief’s May 2011 Fire Alarm Response and Management Summit. For access to the full report, visit the NFPA website.