AIRPORT–Passengers and staff at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) were evacuated from its departure pavilion twice on Tuesday and once Wednesday afternoon.
The airport communications department said on Wednesday afternoon that an alarm had been triggered in the departure pavilion at 1:55pm Tuesday.
The Rescue and Firefighting (R&FF) team responded to the alarm and everyone vacated the pavilion. Following an investigation by the R&FF it was determined that the alarm system showed an active fire fault in the system and the team determined that it was safe to return into the pavilion.
The team reset the panel box and declared the situation as a code green, which meant they could stand down, as there was no active fire. On the same day, at 3:15pm, the alarm sounded once more in the departure pavilion and the R&FF team responded once again.
The passengers evacuated the tent and this time, the Red Alert detection technician arrived to check the system. The Red Alert company originally installed the fire alarm systems of both the arrival and departure pavilions.
Another alarm was triggered at the departure pavilion at 10:21am Wednesday.
R&FF Department chief Manilo Penijn said the technician had decided to disable the panel box and is currently busy repairing the faulty wiring. The R&FF team established a fire watch in the pavilion until the technician completes the necessary repairs.
The PJIA managing board apologised for any inconvenience the false alarms may have caused and stressed that the airport does not take the safety and security of its users for granted.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/78751-faulty-alarm-causes-evacuations-from-airport-departure-pavilion
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