Long Island apartment complex residents fed up with fire alarms

LONG ISLAND - Residents at a Long Island apartment complex have been dealing with ear-piercing fire alarms going off at all hours for about a year.

Scott Cackett is just one of several hundred residents at the Avalon in Amityville who have been dealing with the loud and unpredictable alarms for almost a year now. His dog Leia isn’t a fan either.

"At one time it went off for about two hours from 11:30 to 1:30 in the morning," he said. "If you’re paying $3,400 in rent and $40,000 a year and when there’s a problem they don’t want to fix it like it’s a luxury apartment."

The alarms have been so disruptive that Candice Hughes says she had to keep her kids home from school one day last year after a sleepless night.

While she says it has gotten better recently, she wants AvalonBay Communities, which operates the complex, to fix it for good.

"It was torture for all of us," she said. "They just always have a reason, whether it's something little or testing or water in a line it's just something."

Village officials tell FOX 5 the Amityville fire and police departments have responded to more than 20 false alarms since August of last year. The concern is complacency in the event of a real emergency.

"You don’t want people thinking it’s nothing and the worst can happen," said Village Mayor Dennis Siry.

Scott Fishbone, who is the vice president of AvalonBay Communities, says in a statement, "Amityville Avalon worked closely and consistently with the Town, Village and our 3rd party vendors to address false fire alarms that have occurred…and ensure building safety at all times, which is our top priority."

Officials issued AvalonBay two summonses related to fire alarm issues, each with a maximum fine of $250. They’re due in village court later this month.