r/Firefighting 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/Independent-Feed4157 May 29 '25

I had the opposite... After my oldest was born we had an alarm malfunction in my house due to dust or something. I fixed it but my wife called because the alarm gave a carbon monoxide warning more times than it usually does when it gets reset. Firefighter told us carbon monoxide was serious, that my wife did the right thing, and to never be nervous to call.