Category: Blog

Oakland, California’s Ghost Ship fire has sparked nationwide attention. Beyond the grim of this tragedy, there’s a great lesson about fire alarm systems here. It’s worth talking about. Recently, two men responsible for the management of the building have been charged with 36 counts of manslaughter. Each gentleman faces a possible prison sentence of 39 years for their responsibility in the building’s fire trap status. A New York times article outlines the pending charges here. As a licensed Florida fire alarm contractor, we’re begging Orlando, Florida building owners and managers to wake up and take notice. This is the perfect example of just how serious life safety is. Building owners AND managers have a duty to protect the visitors of their facilities (including guests and employees) from disasters that may cause great bodily harm or death. They have a duty to maintain the systems which are provided to protect life. That’s how serious fire alarm systems are. That’s just how important a simple electronic system can be. 36 people lost their lives – unnecessarily. Somebody needs to be held responsible.

Fire alarm protection systems can be expensive to install and they do require regular fire alarm system inspections and maintenance. Often, for some reason (we can’t wrap our heads around it) building owners will go all out and spare no expense when it comes to decorating and advertising their commercial property but they most always try to cut corners when it comes to the expense of providing a fully functional fire alarm protection system. There’s absolutely no excuse for this. Lane Electronics and Alarm Systems provides financing for the initial installation of required fire alarm protection systems and we offer the option of breaking down inspection and maintenance costs into a monthly payment plan. Fire alarm systems in Orlando, Florida can be monitored for as little as $35 per month. $35 per month can get you the warning time you need to save lives and the dispatch response time you need to save your property. How can any human say that another person’s life isn’t worth $1.17 per day?

The Ghost Ship fire exposed a whole host of problems with the building’s maintenance and the way the Oakland California’s Fire Marshal’s Office conducts their business. A slew of emails back and forth between the building’s owner and an unlicensed electrician show that the building owner and their respective management knew that the building’s electrical system was overloaded, inefficient and that a small electrical fire had already been sparked in the building in an adjoining suite. An excerpt of these emails was contained in a mercury news article available for public view.  Another mercury news article claims that members of the city’s fire department had previously been called to extinguish a fire to a couch at the same location and that after the fire was put out, firefighters toured the building and later returned to party at the Ghost Ship. During their party the same overloaded and ineffective electrical system shut down during a band performance. This shows that at least some members of the city’s fire department knew of the buildings horrid conditions but made no effort to enforce the city’s fire codes.

Thankfully, our Orlando, Florida Fire Marshal’s office is diligent in making regular property inspections and they are eager to cooperate when building owners or managers neglect their fire alarm systems. In Orlando, Florida, when a building is updated to the point that more than 50 percent of the building’s structure is touched, the fire alarm system must be updated to meet current code. Many buildings change occupancies over the years and buildings like the Ghost Ship that house individuals are now required to use low frequency horn strobes that help to alert sleeping individuals inside the building of a possible fire condition. Fire Alarm systems are required to go through an annual inspection that tests and inspects all of the fire alarm devices to ensure that they are working properly in the event of an emergency.

If you have questions about your commercial fire alarm system’s functionality or to inquire about having a new fire alarm system installed in the state of Florida, contact Lane Electronics at 407-299-6070 right away.