Friday from Hell (Could be worse I guess)

[WoodenSunshine]

My apartment's fire alarm tends to get triggered by rain. Usually at early o'clock in the morning. In fact, this one woke me up at 3:30am today. Even if it's just a false alarm, I like to leave just in case I can catch the eye of a hot fireman who goes for bedraggled young women in curlers it's an actual fire.

Well, I tried to get out anyways. To tell the short version of the story, there is one door that lets me leave. It's supposed to have a safety mechanism where the doorknob unlocks the lock IN THE EVENT OF A FIRE. Mine broke. So, I'm literally trapped in my apartment.

In all of my brilliance, I grabbed my toolkit and popped the faceplate off. According to the maintenance guy and the apartment manager, I was darn close to getting it open. I finally gave in around 5:30am and called the emergency hotline.

They were fantastic! The response time wasn't super, but they got that puppy replaced super quick.

I waited until it was all said and done to panic. I called my SO and bawled my eyes out. Being trapped is my number one fear ever since I got trapped in a shed for like two hours when I was a little kid.

Building management was great to me too. They got me coffee and comended me on not doing a Chicken Little ("Gaw, if that was me, I would have been panicking!!!eleventy!). Also, told me to call the fire department next time lol

It's been a little over 12 hours, I'm overcaffeinated and in desperate need of a nap. Off to Happy Hour I go!

[BookstoreEscapee]

My work recently put in a two-way turnstile so we have to scan our badges to get in and out of the main entrance from the lobby. In the event of a fire, it's supposed to shut off and turn freely so people can just go through. First fire drill after they installed it...it didn't unlock. Turned out they forgot to tell the system that it should treat a fire drill like a real fire...

Hope you enjoy happy hour!

[MoonCat]

Glad you were OK! Who ever heard of a fire alarm triggered by rain! What is this, fire alarms unclear on the concept??

We once had a fire drill at work in which we learned that the exit door all the way at the bottom of the stairs was rusted shut. Thank god it wasn't a real emergency. They got that fixed damn quick (like, with 30 minutes of hearing about it quick).

[Jarlaxle]

We had an ACTUAL fire where I work a few weeks ago...some genius was smoking (not supposed to be), saw the supervisor, and tossed his smoke away...into a bale of cardboard. The result of that was predictable. No stuck doors, fortunately.

[Seanette]

A few days ago, we had a fire truck show up in our parking lot. I happened to be on the register nearest the door, and was asked about the alarm they'd gotten, about which I knew nothing. My lead had to consult a manager (lead didn't know, either), and we found out the alarm system was being worked on.

Today, minor trash can fire outside the door. When I told my husband about these, he commented that the fire department had been a bit premature.

[Seshat]

Tell building manglement about the fire alarm that's triggered by rain. Means there's somewhere where rain is getting into the wiring and shorting it, which means the electrical insulation is faulty. It's a fire hazard!

Or at least, that's what happened to the electricals in our house. And I can't imagine it means anything GOOD, anyway.


If building manglement doesn't get it fixed, tell the fire department. They hate having fire hazards in the community.


And yes, if you're trapped inside a building with a fire alarm going off, call the fire department. If you can't call, hang a bedsheet out the window, or (if the windows are fixed) do whatever you can in the wndow to make it clear there's a person alive in here.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Who ever heard of a fire alarm triggered by rain! What is this, fire alarms unclear on the concept??

My college dorm's alarm used to get triggered by steam from the bathroom at the other end of my floor (the alarm unit was too close to the door, I guess). If multiple showers were going at once they had to prop the door open a few inches so it wouldn't all come out at once when someone left the room. Luckily they were good about remembering but we had a few unanticipated "drills" from that.

Also, burnt popcorn.

[strawbabies]

I used to work for one of the casino resorts in Vegas. If it was cold outside, the fire alarms would go off if a certain exterior door was left open.

After that job, I went to work for a state government office. We had to evacuate the building once because some dummy left a toaster unattended in one of the break rooms.

[bhskittykatt]

Glad you were OK! Who ever heard of a fire alarm triggered by rain! What is this, fire alarms unclear on the concept??

At work, a wisp of steam from an omelet station can set it off in one particular banquet room. However recently when they plugged in a chocolate fountain and it shorted out in a fantastic *POOF* with even a few flames coming out of the electrical socket....smoke detectors did nuthin'.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

Some smoke detectors work by shining a light to a sensor. If the light doesn't hit the sensor the smoke detector alarms. Steam, fog, dirt and insects can all block the light from hitting the sensor, setting off the smoke alarm, where an actual fire, with little smoke (like an electric fire) won't affect the sensor at all, meaning the smoke alarm won't go off.

[WoodenSunshine]

There was some kind error in the electrical panel for the fire alarms. It has, hopefully, been fixed. The manager of the building was on site watching the nonesense of trying get my door fixed and I was down at the office the second they opened, because I needed another copy of my key and a cup of coffee.

My door is now 100% easier to lock and unlock. I no longer have to use my entire body weight to turn my key. I may also be looking for another apartment...

[wolfie]

Some smoke detectors work by shining a light to a sensor.

My understanding of photoelectric smoke detectors is that the work on the opposite principle. Inside a vented (via labyrinths, so outside air and smoke can get in, but ambient light can't) chamber there's a light shining onto a "trap" (absorbs the incoming light completely). There's a photocell situated so it intercepts light traveling at right angles to the beam. If smoke gets into the chamber, it scatters the light, so some of it will hit the photocell. After all, it takes FAR less smoke to scatter light than to block it.

Note that photoelectric detectors work best on heavy smoke - they won't spot a clean-burning (i.e. no smoke) fire. Ionization detectors (most common kind) are the opposite - they can detect residue from a clean-burning fire more readily than they can detect visible smoke. For best protection, use both kinds.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

wolfie: probably, my ability with electronics is right up there with my ability with computers.