1.26.24 – WKTV -UTICA, N.Y.
They’ve installed six of the secured alarm boxes, on the floors where most of the false alarms are being pulled. Fire officials and complex management hope this will cut down on people pulling the fire alarms for no reason because every alarm here brings a huge response of people who can’t respond anywhere else.
Barely a week goes by—sometimes, barely a day—where the Utica Fire Department doesn’t respond to Kennedy Plaza Apartments for something, and it’s not always something legitimate.
So far this year, there have been around 10 malicious fire alarm pulls at the complex.
There were around 20 all of last year.
But today, workers installed secured, pull fire alarms that make it impossible for people to walk by and casually pull the alarm for no reason.
“They use this tool, which is metal. They just crack this, clear it, and then pull,” says Utica Fire Marshal Gerald Foster. “We also have dye packs now in the pull stations, so that way, someone that does pull it maliciously, we can identify that person.”
They’ve installed six of the secured alarm boxes, on the floors where most of the false alarms are being pulled.
Fire officials and complex management hope this will cut down on people pulling the fire alarms for no reason because every alarm here brings a huge response of people who can’t respond anywhere else.
“The chief himself, the assistant chief, the fire marshal’s office. We have numerous rigs here, apparatuses, pretty much the whole city comes and public safety when there’s an event here at Kennedy Plaza,” says Marshal Foster.
And with every response, there are risks.
“Police can get into an accident, the fire truck can get into an accident, God forbid. It takes an enormous amount of resources to get here,” says the Fire Marshal.
Cutting down on false alarms at Kennedy Plaza
The plan is to eventually get the secured alarms in the entire high rise and low rises, as well.