When a fire alarm activates, the clock starts. Here's exactly what happens — both what you should do, and what happens automatically behind the scenes in a properly configured system.
Step 1: The Alarm Activates
A detector senses smoke, heat, or CO, or someone breaks a manual call point. In an interlinked or panel system, every sounder in the building activates simultaneously. In a commercial building, a flashing strobe light also activates in areas where hearing impairment might prevent someone from hearing the sounder.
Step 2: Evacuate — Don't Investigate
The most important rule: treat every alarm as real until proven otherwise. Don't wait to see smoke. Don't go back for belongings. Alert everyone in the building, close doors behind you (closed doors significantly slow the spread of fire), and leave by the nearest safe exit.
In commercial buildings with a fire warden system, appointed fire marshals should sweep their designated areas and confirm everyone is out at the assembly point.
Step 3: Call 999
Once outside, call 999. Even if you suspect it might be a false alarm, always call. The fire brigade would always rather respond to a false alarm than arrive too late to a real fire.
Step 4: What Happens in a Monitored System
If your system is connected to a 24/7 Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC), the activation signal is transmitted automatically the moment the alarm sounds. The ARC operator will try to contact your key holders to confirm whether it's a genuine alarm or a false alarm. If they can't reach a key holder, or if the alarm is confirmed as genuine, they dispatch the fire brigade.
This is the key advantage of a monitored system — it doesn't rely on someone in the building hearing the alarm and calling 999.
Step 5: Resetting the Panel
Once the fire brigade has confirmed the building is safe (or the cause of a false alarm has been identified), the system can be reset. For panel systems, this is done at the control panel — usually by silencing the alarm first, identifying and resolving the cause of activation, and then pressing the reset button.
Never reset a fire alarm panel if the cause of activation hasn't been identified. If a detector has triggered but there's no obvious cause, treat it seriously and contact your fire alarm engineer.
Security Red Alert answers the phone 24 hours a day for fire alarm issues across London. If your system is behaving unexpectedly, call us and we will talk you through it and book an engineer — with priority and out-of-hours attendance for customers on a maintenance contract.
Need help with this in London?
Security Red Alert covers all 32 London boroughs from our Summerstown SW17 office. Explore our Fire Alarm Installation, Home Fire Alarms and Fire Extinguishers services, or call 020 8946 5567 for a free survey.