(File Photo/paNOW Staff)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Continuing Problem

Frustration growing as false alarms continue to plague P.A. apartment buildings

Mar 31, 2023 | 5:00 PM

False alarms at five apartment buildings in Prince Albert continue to be a problem for the city’s fire department.

Over the past year, they’ve been called to Carlton Park Suites around 40 times, between seven and eight calls per building, due to someone ‘maliciously’ using the pull station.

Deputy Fire Chief Alex Paul told paNOW they’re worried a real emergency will happen during one of these false alarms.

“The more often you go to a false alarm the greater the odds of getting caught in a situation like that.”

The Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS) also responds to each alarm, adding it’s a strain on resources.

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Paul said the buildings’ owners, Weidner, have been sent a fee to pay as a result, though he didn’t specify how many times this has happened. Under the fire services bylaw, everyone gets one free pass; however, a second false alarm will cost $125, the next $250, with every false alarm afterward costing $500 each.

“It covers a little bit of our expense, but it doesn’t count for the time our members are unavailable to us,” added Paul.

The number of calls had drastically dropped over the past month or so, however, they’ve started to pick up once again. Prince Albert Security Services confirmed to paNOW they had been hired to patrol the area for around two weeks to try and stop the people from pulling the alarms. They said their short time there was quite successful as the number of false alarms dropped significantly.

Multiple residents living in Carlton Park Suites declined to comment on the matter out of fear of retaliation.

Ethan Peterson, who previously lived in one of the apartments, left in late 2022 after a dispute with Weidner. The main reason he didn’t try to stay was a cockroach problem, however, he did mention the constant alarms being pulled also played a part in not wanting to stay any longer.

At the time, he believed there was going to be a boy-who-cried-wolf situation if it continued.

“Whenever it gets pulled, we’re not even worried there’s a fire,” he said. “What if there was actually a fire one of these times.”

paNOW has reached out to Weidner on multiple occasions but didn’t get a response back.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow