Kamloops Fire Rescue (Image Credit: CFJC Today/File)

By Victor Kaisar

False Alarms

New policy allows Kamloops firefighters to not respond to confirmed residential false alarms

Mar 15, 2026 | 4:25 PM

KAMLOOPS — A new policy in the City of Kamloops will allow firefighters to not respond to some residential calls, if they are confirmed to be false.

Fire Chief Ken Uzeloc says the new policy – which was adopted by city council on Tuesday (March 10) – aims to reduce the number of false alarms calls that Kamloops Fire Rescue (KFR) crews respond to, as it accounts for a significant portion of the department’s workload.

“A lot of times when an alarm comes in, we respond and then en route dispatch will get a call saying ‘we’ve had the alarm company or the owner call in and confirm its a false alarm,'” Uzeloc said. “Right now because we don’t have a council policy directing us that we may not respond, we still continue on even though we’ve been told it’s a confirmed false alarm.”

“This is not a great use of resources – especially when we’re already seeing increased demand for services, and it adds undue wear and tear on the apparatus.”

Last year, Uzeloc said Kamloops firefighters responded to more than 1,000 false alarms, which worked to be about 10 per cent of KFR’s total call volume. He noted about 573 of those false calls were at residential addresses while another 500 were at commercial properties.

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“The new policy has been developed with our legal counsel in an effort to manage these false fire alarms in a manner that reflects effective, efficiently use of resources and it outs some criteria in it to protect ourselves from any liability should something happen,” Uzeloc said.

“It would allow KFR the option to not attend the address if notification has been made to dispatch confirming a false fire alarm.”

Residential calls only

The new policy will only apply to false alarm calls at single family homes, duplexes, triplexes, townhouses and mobile homes, Uzeloc said. It will not apply to multi-unit residential, commercial, or industrial properties or to civic properties like hospitals or detention centres.

Uzeloc told council that under the new policy, fire dispatchers would still be required to gather and confirm information to verify that the call is indeed false before responding crews can be stood down.

If the call is from a monitoring service, the company’s name, the name of the representative, and their contact information will be recorded. If the call is coming from an owner or occupant of the property, they’ll also need to confirm they’re at least 19-years-old and are physically at the property.

“We would also collect information on the address and that the caller indicated that the fire alarm was false and no emergency exists,” Uzeloc said. “Dispatch would advise them that KFR may stand down and not respond to the property given that notification, and also make note if there is anything unusual about the phone call or the conversation.”

Uzeloc told council there is no one specific reason as to why a call is deemed to be a false alarm, as he noted it could be due to cooking or having an alarm too close to a shower that steam can set it off. It could also depend on where and how the fire alarm system is set up.

“Generally, when we have an event, there’s other signs – there’s smoke, there’s flame, there’s odours, there’s neighbours phoning in,” Uzeloc said. “All of those false alarms are the ones that truly are false and nothing is confirmed because if it was a fire it would be coded as something else.”

False alarms not unique to Kamloops

Uzeloc also said the issue of false alarms is not unique to Kamloops, and that these calls typically account for between 10 and 15 per cent of total call volumes at most fire departments.

“We’ve adjusted as best we could. When the alarm comes in and there is only the one hit and no other indicators, we send one truck. We don’t respond at full capacity,” Uzeloc said, noting KFR bills about $675 an hour for a fire engine with a crew.

“I also have three municipalities who are waiting to see the outcome of this proposed council policy so they can take it and do the same thing.”

Uzeloc also said Kamloops Fire Rescue has an education component in place, particularly in the event of repeat false alarms at commercial buildings. He also said KFR is able to levy fines to repeat offenders to encourage them to rectify their systems to prevent future false alarms.