HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. -- The Huntersville Fire Department is concerned about the high number of malicious fire alarms they have responded to at the Apartments at Birkdale Village this past week.

According to Huntersville Fire Public Information Officer Bill Suthard, since December 29 firefighters have responded to malicious fire alarms at least seven times at the same location. The incidents have occurred between 5 p.m. and 12 a.m. 

“When we arrive, we always find a pull station that has been pulled. No one knows who did it. It’s in the exact same address, exact same building on Formby road,” Suthard said.

The fire department has the suspicion children may be pulling the fire alarm without a real emergency. Suthard said on December 29 when firefighters where in the process of resetting the station that had been pulled, a second false alarm went off in a nearby building. When firefighters went to check for an emergency, Suthard said, they ran across children running through the halls.

Rockell who has lived at the apartments where the malicious alarms have occurred said most of them have happened after 9 p.m.  

“It’s quite annoying because it’s late at night. It’s the time we are resting and winding down,” Rockell said. “Whoever is doing this, please stop.”

Suthard is also asking those responsible stop activating the fire alarms if there is not a real emergency.

“The most unfortunate part of all of this is out of the seven times we responded , on three occasions we were already committed to another medical call or fire call and we had to rely on a backup agency or a backup station to respond, or volunteers to cover some of those calls,” Suthard said.

Huntersville Fire has been able to cover the calls that came in the same timeframe of the false alarms at Birkdale. However, Suthard worries if this trend continues, it could impact real emergencies.  

“It could potentially delay our response to a scene because we are investigating a false call,” Suthard said.

Rockell hopes the malicious fire alarms stop at her apartment complex and that everything returns back to normal.

According to Suthard, the security at Birkdale Village is helping identify the suspects.

In addition, Mecklenburg County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the malicious fire alarms.

If caught, those responsible could be charged with a Class 2 misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.