Commercial Fire Protection Alarm Systems Provide More Than Just Life Saving Benefits
Most commercial property owners are aware of the building code requirement for fire protection and fire alarm monitoring systems and have variations of these systems in their buildings. The Borough further requires annual testing and reporting of these systems.
Some commercial property owners view the required annual testing, reporting and routine maintenance as yet another cost of doing business. While the systems can be expensive to purchase and maintain, their value far exceeds the common perception that their benefit is only for life safety.
The Borough’s fire department recently responded to an alarm that was triggered by a smoke detector in an unoccupied area of a commercial building. The detector was part of an overall fire protection system that reports to a monitoring company when an alarm is activated by heat or smoke. The fire department was on-site at the property within one minute of dispatch, with additional units from surrounding areas responding within three to seven minutes. Due to the quick notification and response times, damage to the building, which contains several commercial and residential tenants, was limited to $20,000.00.
When compared to the estimated value of the structure at $500,000.00, $20,000.00 is a very small figure. Since the fire was contained so quickly and prevented from spreading to the occupied areas of the building, neither the commercial or residential occupants suffered any loss. This saved the property owner from losing thousands of dollars in monthly rental income. Additional damages in the form of lost revenue for the commercial tenants and out of pocket expenses for residential tenants that did not have renter’s insurance could have totaled well over an additional $100,000.00.
Captain Awarded Recognition of Credentialing
(l-r) Pat Brandenburg, Borough Manager; Cpt. Ethan Holmes, Recipient; and Thomas M. Moll, Council President
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