Generically, false alarms are any alarm activated when there's no emergency—whether what happened was inadvertent or negligent.Did you know that alarms go off all the time because the detector detects shower steam or smoke from overdone toast?Or microwave mishaps."Make sure when you heat up your Easy Mac in the microwave that you put the water in first so it doesn't burn," says Harold Straut, Former Chief and Commissioner of Nanuet Fire Department and Fire Inspector for the Town of Clarkstown. "That happened Super Bowl Sunday, right at kick-off."Did you know smoke detectors can be activated by dust from construction or particles from welding? They can. In 2012, 33 percent of fire calls in the county were unnecessary alarms—and 15 percent of those caused by contractors working on commercial or residential properties.Here are the most common causes of unnecessary alarms, according to Chris Kear, the county's deputy fire coordinator.

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