Since the first of December 2008, in order to avoid useless excursions made by firefighters and to ensure better security for the citizens, the City of Montreal has put into place new regulations on unwarranted fire alarms envisaging fines for delinquents. The City has stipulated however that owners of dwellings will benefit of a two-month delay period before the new regulations will be applied by the Service de sécurité incendie of Montreal.
The City has declared that: « With a firm concern to ensure the security of its citizens, the Service de sécurité incendie of Montreal will apply, beginning on the 1st of February of 2009, new regulations with the purpose of reducing the growing number of unwarranted fire alarms on the territory of the Montreal agglomeration. The implementation of these new measures aims at inciting owners of dwellings to adequately maintain their fire alarm system and to heighten the awareness of the population in order to evacuate rapidly at the sound of an alarm ».
Between the 1st of December 2008 and the 31st of January 2009, all owners of dwellings whose fire alarm system will have gone off because of an imperfection or an error of use, will receive notice informing them of the putting into place of the new regulations. After this date, if a landlord whose fire alarm system will have gone off for a second time during a period of twelve months, he will receive an invoice from the City. The costs resulting from unwarranted fire alarms will vary in function of the number of useless excursions made by the fire fighters, and one also foresees making a distinction between different categories of buildings.
The Service de sécurité incendie of Montreal responds to almost 15 000 unwarranted fire alarms annually, representing 29 % of the excursions made by the fire fighters.
The City of Montreal wants to encourage landlords to replace or to repair their fire alarm systems, in order to eliminate unwarranted fire alarms, by putting into place programmes destined to reimburse part of the costs encountered. In order to know the fines imposed by the new regulations and the programme of available subsidies, citizens are invited to visit the Website of the City at: www.ville.montreal.qc.ca/sim .