Yellowknife firefighter Kevin Whitehead. Pranksters plagued the city with false alarms in December. - Dorothy Westerman/NNSL photo FALSE ALARMS 2005 January - 20 February - 28 March - 10 April - 33 May - 28 June -- 24 July -- 20 August - 28 September - 14 October -- 25 November - 15 December -- 17

Dorothy Westerman
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 18/06) - Being awakened by a fire alarm is no one's idea of a good time.

So deputy fire chief Chucker Dewar wonders why anyone would deliberately cause disruption, fear and havoc by ringing false alarms across the city.

"It's just malicious behaviour," Dewar said.

"If somebody is in trouble and there is no other alternative to get help, that's OK," he said.

"But on weekends, (false alarms) have been prevalent, day or night."

The incidence of false alarms over the past month has Dewar concerned.

In December, there were 17 false alarms. So far this month there have been 13.

"This really takes away from our training and maintenance activities, and it can impact on other emergency responses," Dewar said.

It takes 45 minutes to respond to a false alarm and costs the department $500 an hour to dispatch a fire truck to an alarm source.

"It pulls tenants out of bed at night and they have to evacuate," Dewar said.

"Then they have to wait until we complete our investigation until we confirm there is not an emergency situation."

Dewar said installing security cameras in a building plagued by false alarms might eliminate or reduce the problem.

Anyone caught making a false alarm can be charged under the Criminal Code or city bylaws.