American Alarm & Communications, Inc.

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Preserve your security during renovations

Fire struck during renovation project, but smoke detector was disabled

With the spring construction season not too far away, many people will be contemplating renovations or additions to their homes. When renovations are underway, the recent experience of one American Alarm customer serves as a cautionary tale for others.

In a suburb west of Boston, our customer was having some renovation work done to their home. Unbeknownst to them, someone on the contractor’s crew had covered over a basement smoke detector to prevent it from being affected by dust and debris from the construction activity.

At first there was no trouble, but late one night, long after the construction crew had left the home, oily rags left in a trash bucket in the basement caught fire. The smoke detector closest to the fire was covered over, unable to detect the smoldering fire and respond. Family members were in the home at the time and smelled smoke. They tracked the odor to the basement, and when they opened the basement door, they saw smoke.

The adults immediately evacuated the house, with children and pets in tow, and no one was injured. Once outside, our customer called the local fire department via cell phone and help was on the way. Around the same time, smoke from the basement fire reached another detector in the home and a signal was sent to our 24-hour Security Command Center where our staff also called the fire department.

Fire crews responded to the home within minutes and the fire was extinguished. The basement suffered some damage, but the fire was contained there.

We hope this incident will serve as a reminder to all of our customers to be aware of potential security issues when work crews are in their home or business. At American Alarm, we ask that no other contractors or trades people tamper with any elements of the security systems we install. And we urge our customers to discuss security concerns with contractors before giving them permission to work in your home or business.