2. Purpose
To provide a standardized operation and response to
Municipal Box and Local Alarms within the City of
Newport.
To provide the reset procedures for the Control
Panel/Radio Box.
3. Radio Box Alarms Categories
Master (Radio)Box Alarms (3 Rounds)
Trouble Alarms
AC Fail
Low Battery
Transmitter Failure
Supervisory
Tilt/Intruder
Sprinkler Tamper
No Function
4. Typical Alarm Zones
Zone 1 – (Alarm) All fire detection devices
Zone 2 – (Alarm) Main water flow
Zone 3 – (Alarm) Ansul system
Zone 9 – (Trouble) Supervisory
Sprinkler tampers
Generator running
Miscellaneous
Zone 0 (TEST ZONE) – Trouble with Radio Box (more
information later in presentation)
Other Zones may be specific to occupancy hazard
areas
5. Procedure
Local and Municipal Alarm Systems
Upon arrival on the scene the Officer-In-Charge (OIC)
shall announce the zone and location of the alarm.
Upon investigation of the Fire Alarm Control Panel
(FACP), the OIC shall perform four (4) steps:
1. Acknowledge
2. Silence
3. Reset
4. Inspect the Radio Box
(if applicable) to visualize the zone is clear
6. Acknowledge (“ACK”)
This function is used to acknowledge an abnormal
situation such as an alarm, trouble or supervisory. The
acknowledge function tells the panel that emergency
responders are aware of the alarm, trouble, or supervisory
condition.
Pressing acknowledge will identify the device or zone
in alarm, if not already identified on the FACP.
Be aware when acknowledging the alarm that multiple
alarms may be indicated.
Simply scroll through the alarms to identify them, and
investigate all zones and/or devices.
7. Silence
Stops the bells from sounding, but also allows the
radio box to transmit further alarms.
Press silence after the cause has been determined to
ensure that all occupants have exited the building.
Acknowledge and Silence should release the zones in
the Radio Box.
8. Reset
Reset will return the FACP to a normal state (after
pressing “acknowledge and silence” buttons).
If the alarm does NOT reset, or a heat or smoke
detector will not clear:
Acknowledge and Silence the system
Do NOT press RESET. Issue an Impairment Notice.
This will leave the detector or zone locked in alarm so the
Alarm Company technician can resolve the problem.
You must issue the owner an Impairment Notice, and
notify the alarm company of the condition of the system
Do not leave the notification up to the owner!
9. FCI Panel Zone will be indicated by a Red
alarm, or Yellow/Orange Trouble
light
• If no zone is indicated, a bulb
may be burned out.
• Hold the test lamp button, and
find the bulb that does NOT light.
It may be the zone in alarm.
10. “Acknowledge” “Silence”
• There is NO “Acknowledge
“Button
• Silence the Alarm
• Reset the Alarm – hold for 5
seconds
• After the alarm is reset, the
panel may beep or ring.
• This is to notify you that the
alarm is still in the “Silence”
mode.
• Put Alarm back to “Normal”
and the beep or ring will stop.
11. Lock Out Zone
• If the box will not reset.
You may “Lock Out” the
zone.
• Push/Pull the zone
card toggle to lock out
the zone.
• Then reset the system
as noted previously
12. Radio Box Inspection
Open the radio box to ensure
that all zones are clear.
This can be done by opening
the Radio Box and making
sure the lights for the
corresponding zones are off.
13. FAULT Indicator
Whenever the door is opened to the Radio
Box, the “Fault” Indicator light will turn
on.
• This is a Tilt/Intruder indicator.
To ensure that the radio box is truly clear,
you must push, and hold, the plunger by
hand when the door is open.
If the fault clears, the panel is normal.
If not, issue an impairment notice.
14. Trouble Alarms
Trouble Alarms are related to an issue in the
RADIO BOX Only!
Zone 0 (zero) is the TEST Zone (24 hr test)
Response depends on the ZONE that comes in
If the TROUBLE ALARM comes in as a Zone 0 (Zero),
then only 1 Engine is required.
If the TROUBLE comes in as any other Zone, then a Full
Box Alarm Response is required. (whether it states
Trouble or Not).
15. Trouble Alarms
All municipally connected fire alarm systems are required
to have a sixty (60) hour battery backup power supply.
When the power to a Radio Box is interrupted for any
reason it will automatically switch to battery power –
indicating “Trouble”.
Other Trouble Alarm indications:
a contaminated smoke detector or an electrical problem
within the system.
Disabled zones, low power on the backup battery, the
disabling of a notification appliance, or open circuits.
In a trouble condition, the panel displays the zone or
devices causing the condition. The "Trouble" indicator
goes out automatically when the situation causing the
trouble condition is rectified.
16. AC Fail
Nine (9) hours after an interruption of power, the
Radio Box is programmed to send out an “AC Fail”
signal.
The nine hour delay is to give whoever interrupted the
power supply time to restore it.
RESPONSE:
An engine shall be dispatched at the nine hour point to
determine why the AC power has not been restored.
If there is no attempt being made to restore the power,
you should contact the 24-hour emergency number on
the FACP and let them know the system is impaired, and
issue an Impairment Notice
17. Low Battery
The Low Battery signal is for the Radio Box battery only, not the
FACP batteries.
This signal can mean one of two things:
1. The level of the battery is getting to the point of not having
the power to transmit an alarm or trouble signal.
2. The newer Radio Boxes have a test feature that puts a load
test on the battery.
RESPONSE:
An engine shall be dispatched to see if AC power has been
interrupted, and if so, get the problem corrected
IF AC power is OK, this usually means the battery needs to be
replaced.
The 1st time you respond to this scenario, you may push the test
button in the Radio Box. This will reset the battery test feature.
If you respond a 2nd time, issue an Impairment Notice.
18. Transmitter Failure
The box may buzz or ring to indicate failure
Response: Full Box Alarm Response (1st time)
For Transmitter Failure, press the “Tx Reset” button to
reset the system.
If you respond a 2nd time to the same location: DO NOT
reset the transmitter. This will enable the alarm
company to track down the problem.
Issue an Impairment Notice, and notify the owner and
alarm company.
Tx Trouble – indicates the transmitting signal is
drifting out of the optimal range.
19. Supervisory
This signal indicates that a portion of the building's
fire protection system has been disabled (such as a fire
sprinkler control valve being closed or a sprinkler
tamper switch being activated)
Depending on the system's design, the supervisory
point may be latching, meaning the panel must be
reset to clear the supervisory condition, or non-
latching, meaning the indicator automatically goes out
when the condition has cleared.
20. Impairment Notices
When issuing an Impairment
Notice, it must be given
directly to the owner (not the
tenant) OR,
You must notify the 24 hour
emergency contact (Alarm
Company), and let them
know what the problem is,
and where the Impairment
Notice form is located.
21. Equipment Ownership
The property owner owns the Radio Box and all fire
alarm equipment.
The owner is responsible to keep it 100% operational.
Any time you issue an impairment notice, even if you
hand deliver it to someone on the scene, you are still
required to notify the alarm company of the
impairment.
If the problem cannot be fixed, the OIC must issue an
impairment notice, and notify the alarm company of
the impairment
22. Other Information
The owner of the fire alarm system is required to
provide a 24 hour emergency number for the owner or
the owner’s representative for the department to call in
the event of an alarm or trouble.
The number must be conspicuously located at the
FACP.
