r/Firefighting • u/PhilosopherFull819 • May 29 '25

Ask A Firefighter Firefighter told me I shouldn't have called.

The smoke detector was going off from the car port underneath the garage apartments behind the 4plex I live in. I walked outside and saw no smoke or fire and found the detector. I mulled over reaching up and disabling it myself but I opted to err on the side of caution and report it. A truck pulled up minutes later and I showed the guys what I saw. The tallest one reached up and pulled it off and took out the battery. Another one got angry and said that I should "grow up" and "feel embarrassed" for calling. To which I replied I didn't want to turn off the alarm without confirming there was no danger that I couldn't see myself and thanked them and told them to have a nice day and they left. I imaging he was stressed and tired but can't help feeling like I did something wrong.

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u/ElectronicMinimum724 May 29 '25

If you didn't see smoke or fire, then the detector was malfunctioning. Call maintenance next time. He said the quiet part out loud.

4

u/PhilosopherFull819 May 29 '25

I texted my apartment manager first to tell him about the alarm going off. It has been 5 hours, and he still hasnt responded. That's typical. I could have removed the battery from the device to stop the loud alarm and gone back to bed. Nothing bad would have happened. BUT I had a doubt in my mind. What if i was wrong and because I couldn't see or smell the danger that was actually present, someone got hurt? That's why I called. I also told the 911 operator who answered my call that I saw and smelled no fire.

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u/fioreman May 29 '25

In that case, you absolutely did the right thing. Calling 911 still should be a last resort, but now you know how smoke detectors work.

If you told them you already called maintenance, then that guy shouldn't have said shit except "so here's what's going on. Next time, here's how you can fix it."

The fact you called maintenance 5 hours earlier is a huge piece of context you should put in your original post. That changes everything.

You'd be shocked at how many people just hit 911 anytime they feel like it. It sucks you're the one that has to take the heat for that shit.