Bernalillo County Fire & Rescue Standard Operating Guidelines PDF

SOG 3.4 Page 1 of 3 Bernalillo County Fire & Rescue...

SOG 3.4 Page 1 of 3 Bernalillo County Fire & Rescue STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINES Field Operations Effective Date 2/2016 Revised Date 2/2024 ALARM ACTIVATIONS Purpose: The purpose of this guideline is to establish Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue’s standard response to activations of smoke, fire and/or sprinkler alarm activations. A BCFR unit will respond and arrive to verify a false alarm, make contact with the responsible party, and ensure the building is left in a safe condition. BCFR is responsible for responding to calls for emergency service. BCFR will not accept cancellations from private citizens. Units must proceed to all calls as dispatched and make every reasonable attempt to make contact with the occupants or responsible party if an alarm monitoring entity has verified the incident as a false alarm, then crews may accept the cancellation. Scope: The scope of this guideline is to make clear the roles, responsibilities, and best practices for the response of fire alarms for operations personnel and the Fire Marshal’s Office personnel. Definitions: FPDS-Fire Priority Dispatch System DFM-Deputy Fire Marshal Alarm Room- Albuquerque Fire and Rescue Dispatch General Guidelines: Upon receiving a dispatch for a response to an alarm activation, units will respond in the usual manner according to the FPDS assigned to the call. Should Fire Control contact the units after being dispatched appropriately indicating receipt of a false alarm from a citizen and not an alarm monitoring entity, the district suppression unit or Commander will respond code 1. If the district suppression unit is not assigned to the call for various reasons (OOS Mechanical, OOS Training, on an additional alarm) the closest suppression unit to the location or the Commander will SOG 3.4 Page 2 of 3 continue code 1 to the location of the alarm to verify the false alarm. On arrival, the suppression unit will assess the occupancy and make contact with a responsible party, such as a building manager, owner, maintenance worker, occupant, or calling party to identify the problem and confirm false alarm. In the absence of a responsible party, the officer and crew will assess the building/occupancy to determine if there are any signs of fire, smoke, or water flow within or around the building/occupancy. The officer shall make every effort to have Fire Control make contact with the responsible party and to address any false alarm issues. The officer should attempt to obtain the key from the Knox Box and advise dispatch that the key has been removed. The officer will advise dispatch that crews are making entry into the structure and search the building for any evidence of fire. The officer should attempt to reset the alarm when possible. If the officer is unable to reset the alarm, the officer should acknowledge the alarm on the panel and re-secure the structure. The Knox key will be replaced in the box and dispatch advised that the key is resecured. In the instance that no contact can be made with the responsible party for commercial occupancies and no Knox Box key access is available to the suppression unit, a DFM will be dispatched to the scene. Once the DFM arrives on the scene, the suppression unit will be released and placed back in service. The DFM will remain on site until contact is made with the responsible party. If there is any part of the fire protection system that is not operational, resulting in the system being out of service, and there are occupants in the structure, the structure must either be evacuated or put on fire watch. o If the occupant decides to conduct a fire watch, the Fire Department Official will explain fire watch using the “Fire Watch Fact Sheet” and have the occupancy’s responsible person sign the Fire Watch Fact Sheet acknowledging the fire code and the expectations of the fire watch. The department may use an electronic form and signature if available. o The fire department member who issued the fire watch form will notify the Fire Prevention Bureau of the incident address, contact information, and time the business was put on the fire watch. This may be completed by using the department incident report writing system if available or as directed by the Division Chief of the Fire Prevention Bureau. o In the case that an electronic form was not used in the incident report writing system, the signed fire watch fact sheet will be maintained at the station until a member of the Fire Prevention Bureau picks it up to be filed in the Fire Prevention Bureau office. o All follow-ups will be completed by the Fire Prevention Bureau. Any occupancy with a fire protection system that is not operational shall be issued a Notice of Hazard. The issuing fire department member shall notify the Fire Prevention Bureau that a notice of hazard has been issued. This may be completed by using the department incident report writing system if available or as directed by the Division Chief of the Fire Prevention Bureau.  SOG 3.4 Page 3 of 3 If the incident is in the City of Albuquerque’s jurisdiction, then the Alarm Room will be contacted and a request for an AFR Fire Inspector will be made. Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue will respond and ensure that every alarm activation is assessed and that the occupancy is left in the safest condition possible by means of leaving it under the care of the responsible party or the Fire Marshal’s Office. At no time will a cancellation from a citizen be taken without first arriving on the scene, assessing the property/situation, and making contact with the appropriate occupant/responsible party. Crews may take cancellations from an alarm monitoring service if they have verified the incident as a false alarm.