LAKEVILLE – Voters at Lakeville’s Special Town Meeting on Monday, Nov. 13 voted to approve new fines for false fire alarms.

The new fines for false alarms would only apply to multifamily residential buildings, commercial and industrial sites. Properties that have more than three false alarms within six months could be subject to a fine, at the discretion of Lakeville’s fire chief.

Fire Chief Michael O'Brien said at a Sept. 18 Lakeville Select Board meeting that the new by-laws would help combat the large number of false fire alarms that the Lakeville Fire Department receives.

O’Brien said that the time spent responding to false fire alarms makes it more difficult for the fire department to perform other services. “When we’re in our fire trucks our ambulance is empty, so this is definitely a public safety issue,” he said.

There were “203 false alarms and malfunctions so far this year,” O’Brien said.

“That’s a lot of false alarms in one year,” Select Board member Lia Fabian remarked.

“This is nothing more than a tool for compliance,” O’Brien said of the proposed by-law. “It’s not really my mentality or my practice to hammer people with fines and write tickets. But sometimes the existence of that ability compels people to do what they have to do.”