Town of Wilton, NY Alarm Systems

This article is intended to promote the health, safety and general welfare of the people of the Town of Wilton, New York, including the protection of the property of the Town and its inhabitants, by proposing regulations on the installation and maintenance of fire alarms.

§ 37-2 Definitions.

For the purpose of this article, the words and phrases set forth in this section shall be defined as set forth in this section:

EMERGENCY FIRE ALARM

Any fire alarm system designed to send a signal, recorded, coded or otherwise, which terminates in any manner at any volunteer fire company, at the Saratoga County Fire Control Center or at a facility responsible for monitoring such alarm systems or any fire alarm system designed to emit an audible signal at the exterior of the premises of the alarm installation.

FALSE ALARM

Any accidental, deliberate, reckless or negligent initiation or activation of an emergency fire alarm when any emergency situation does not exist.

§ 37-3 Maintenance required.

Each and every emergency fire alarm system in the Town of Wilton shall be properly maintained in operating condition by the building owner or his agent.

§ 37-4 False alarms.

A false alarm within 120 days of a previously false alarm shall cause a civil penalty of $100 to be levied against the owner of the property from which said false alarms emitted, whether the false alarm was caused by human error or malfunction of equipment; except, however, that such civil penalty shall not apply to false alarms intentionally initiated by one not under the control or supervision of the property owner or representative. The civil penalty levied for any additional false alarms within the one-hundred-twenty-day period shall be $200 per alarm. Nothing in this article shall exempt any person from criminal prosecution under the New York State Penal Law covering in any manner the intentional transmission of false alarms.

Following response to an emergency fire alarm which subsequent investigation determines to be false and the notification of said fact by the Fire Department to the owner of the premises or his representative from which the alarm emanated, the owner or representative shall file a written report with the Fire Department in that district and with the Code Enforcement Officer within 72 hours of such notification. Such report shall contain all information pertaining to the reason for activation of the emergency fire alarm, and the planned corrective action, if any, on the part of the property owner to prevent future false alarms.

§ 37-5 Location; responsibilities of owner.

Each and every fire alarm system which terminates in any manner at any volunteer fire company or the Saratoga County Fire Control Center or at a facility responsible for monitoring such alarm system must be electrically configurated so as to also terminate at the home or place of business of the owner or a designated representative of the subject premises, and such owner or representative must immediately report to the scene of the alarm.

§ 37-6 Testing.

There shall be no testing of emergency fire alarms which would normally summon the appropriate fire company unless such test is first cleared, verified and authorized by all entities and/or agencies where such alarm terminates, including but not limited to the volunteer Fire Department servicing the property and the Saratoga County Fire Control Center.

§ 37-7 Responsible parties.

The owner of each property which contains an emergency fire alarm as herein set forth must provide the local Fire Department and the Saratoga County Fire Control Center with a list of three people, their addresses and telephone numbers, who may be contacted in the event that an alarm is received, who will be able to grant access to the subject premises.

§ 37-8 Liability of Town.

Neither the Town of Wilton nor the fire districts serving the Town of Wilton shall be liable for any defects in operation of emergency fire alarm systems, nor for failure to respond appropriately, nor any erroneous response pursuant to the provisions of this article with respect to the installation, operation and maintenance of equipment, the transmission of alarm systems or messages or the relaying of such systems or messages.

In the event that the Town of Wilton or any fire districts within said Town find it necessary to disconnect any signaling device, the foregoing parties shall incur no liability therefrom.

§ 37-9 Penalties for offenses.

The civil penalty for violation of any of the provisions of this article or any rules or regulations promulgated hereto, except where such penalty is specifically provided for in said provision, rule or regulation, shall be remitted to the Town of Wilton and thereupon 1/2 of the fine collected shall be transmitted to the fire district in which the violation occurred.

§ 37-10 Enforcement.

The duly designated Town Code Enforcement Officer shall enforce the provisions of this article and shall investigate and report any violation thereof.

Upon the receipt of a signed complaint by the Code Enforcement Officer concerning any alleged violation of this article, a civil summons against the alleged violator may be issued by the Code Enforcement Officer and said matter shall be considered a small claims case under New York law for all procedural purposes.