You’re just about to fall asleep when a loud, sharp sound wakes you up. It’s the house alarm of a neighbour. Even if the sound of a fire or security alarm is annoying, it could be a sign that something is wrong. When you hear an alarm from a neighbour, it’s important not to just ignore it. This step-by-step guide will show you how to act in a situation that could be dangerous to your life.
Observe
When you hear a neighbour’s alarm, the first thing you should do is look at what’s going on. Try to figure out which house is making the noise and watch it for anything strange. If an alarm goes off, you probably won’t know if it’s a fire alarm or an intruder alarm. In both cases, keep an eye out for anything that seems odd. Is there any smoke? Or, do you see anyone who doesn’t look right leaving the scene? As you look at the property, ask yourself these questions. Your observations can’t be short-lived; you should keep looking every 5–10 minutes to see if anything changes.
Notify
If you know how to reach your neighbour, you can call or text them. If they aren’t at home, this will let them know what’s going on. They can also tell you if the alarm is a false one.
Stay Safe
If your neighbour’s house alarm goes off, you may want to help, but you shouldn’t do so in a way that puts you in danger. If smoke is coming from the house, you shouldn’t try to get in or even get close to it. Also, if you see an intruder leaving the house, don’t try to stop them. If you did either of these things, you could hurt yourself or your neighbours, putting your life and theirs in danger. Stay hidden and find out as much as you can to pass on to the emergency services. If you need to get nearer to see everything, make sure to keep a good distance between you and the property and stay as hidden as possible.
Contact the authorities
If you see something strange, you should call the police or other authorities to report it. If you see strange things going on around the property but don’t think a crime is happening, call the local police at 101. Call the emergency number 999 if you think a crime is happening right now and the criminals may still be at the scene. Call the emergency number, 999, if you see smoke coming from the house or think there might be a fire.
But if you’ve been watching and haven’t seen anything strange, you don’t need to call the police or fire department right away. Many alarms that go off are false alarms, and calling an emergency service to the scene when there is no sign of a problem could stop someone who really needs help from getting it.
Consider getting a monitored alarm for your home so that the right thing is always done when it goes off. When a monitored alarm goes off, it sends a message to a third-party security company. The security company will figure out what’s going on and get in touch with you right away. If necessary, they will also call the police or emergency services.
For more information about Alarm Maintenance please contact A Matter of Security.
