Aug 16, 2024 By Paul Paterra 2 min read

Charleroi council took the first steps toward increasing fines for false fire alarms.

At Wednesday’s meeting, council voted unanimously to advertise for the adoption of an ordinance that would increase the fine on the fourth and every subsequent false alarm from $200 to $500.

Matt Prentice, captain of the Charleroi Fire Department, said the current regulations have been on the books since 1999. Conversations with other area fire chiefs revealed that Charleroi’s fine is about the lowest in the county.

“You can get a bigger fine for not cutting your grass than you can for not making sure your fire alarm is maintained,” Prentice said. “With the increase in the fines, I felt people might take it more seriously to have their fire alarms fixed and maintained.”

Anytime the fire alarm is sounded, emergency personnel must respond.

“You have to treat it like it’s a fire,” Prentice said. “Not only are you putting residents in jeopardy because it’s a false alarm, you’re putting your responders in jeopardy. You’re tying up those resources for a false alarm that you don’t want to get fixed.”

Prentice suggested $500 because that is the cost for the apparatus to respond to a house fire or vehicle accident.

Council is expected to vote on the ordinance in September.