M34
Unwanted Alarms -- Impact and Mitigation
Marty Ahrens, NFPA
David Kerr, Texas Fire Department
Pravinray Gandhi, UL LLC
Tony Apfelbeck, Altamonte Springs
Jay Hauhn, Central Station Alarm Association
Thomas Hammerberg, Automatic Fire Alarm Association
Monica Colby, Rapid City Fire Department

 

Fire departments are frustrated by the large number of emergency calls from fire alarm system activations that were not actual fires. The fire service, fire alarm industry and the public all have a stake in improving these statistics. What's been happening since the Unwanted Alarm Summit in 2011? The presentation will include: background and previous research efforts; current research on the nature of the problem and impact of interventions; the industry perspective; and the potential changes to the UL standard on smoke detectors. The session will end with an interactive discussion on the path forward, including other research questions.


Presented by:

Marty Ahrens, NFPA
Marty Ahrens is Senior Manager for the Fire Analysis Services in NFPA's Fire Analysis and Research Division. She came to NFPA in 1997 after 11 years as the Research Analyst/Fire Incident Reporting System Coordinator in the Massachusetts State Marshal's office. In addition to her managerial responsibilities, she also analyzes fire data to provide national estimates of various aspects of the fire problem. She has written reports about smoke alarms, cooking fires, candle fires, vehicle fires, and fires in various occupancies, as well as chapters in several NFPA publications. She also collaborates regularly with other national fire data analysts. Marty has an MSW from Boston University and a BA in Psychology from the University of Connecticut.

David Kerr, Texas Fire Department
As Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal for Plano Fire Rescue, David Kerr has over 38 years of experience covering municipal and industrial fire protection. David serves as an adjunct faculty member at the National Fire Academy, Collin College and Texas A&M. He has been a technical committee member of NFPA's National Fire Alarm Code for over 25 years. David is a graduate of Oklahoma State and the University of Texas-Dallas, a member of several national fire service organizations, Chair of the US Fire Administrations Fire Prevention Advocacy and Resources Data Exchange, and serves as chair of the Regional Code Correlating Committee for the North Texas Council of Governments serving the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Pravinray Gandhi, UL LLC
Pravinray Gandhi (Ph. D., Mechanical Engineering) has been at UL since 1984. He is currently Director of R&D with focus on fire safety. Pravinray has worked to quantify fire hazards, develop test methods and collaborated with standards organizations (ASTM, NFPA, UL, ISO, IEC) to develop performance based standards. He has also supported UL's global safety mission through collaborative research and engagements with academic institutions, and government agencies.

Tony Apfelbeck, Altamonte Springs
Tony Apfelbeck has served as the Fire Marshal and Building Official for the Building/Fire Safety Division of Altamonte Springs, Florida, since 2000 following a 10-year career as a Division Chief/Fire Marshal in Oviedo. He began his fire service career in 1985 as a volunteer firefighter in Winter Springs before becoming a fire inspector with Volusia County. Fire Marshal Apfelbeck is currently a member of the technical committee for NFPA 1, Fire Code, the technical advisory committee for the Florida Building Commission and participates on a number of projects with the Fire Protection Research Foundation. He previously served as Chair of the Florida Fire Code Advisory Council, director of the Florida Fire Marshals and Inspectors Association, director of the International Association of Fire Chiefs Fire/Life Safety Section, member of the NFPA Southern Regional Fire Code Development Committee and a member of the International Code Council (ICC) Fire Code Action Committee and ICC Fire Safety Committee. In addition, he has been recognized by his peers as a Fellow in the Florida Fire Marshals' and Inspectors' Association and is a Fellow in the Institution of Fire Engineers.

Jay Hauhn, Central Station Alarm Association
Jay Hauhn is the Executive Director at Central Station Alarm Association in Vienna, VA.

Thomas Hammerberg, Automatic Fire Alarm Association
Tom Hammerberg is Technical Director of the Automatic Fire Alarm Association. He has been in the alarm industry for 40 years and with AFAA for 21 years, serving as President/Executive Director from 2003-2014. Tom is NICET Level 4 certified in the field of

Monica Colby, Rapid City Fire Department
Monica Colby is a Fire and Life Safety Specialist with the Rapid City Fire Department in South Dakota and was the Northwest Regional Advisor for NFPA for over 5 years. She has been a Fire and Life Safety Educator since 1998, serving as a city, district, s