They don’t need to be!

Each false alarm costs our community and residents will be charged $250 if they cause a false alarm.

As part of the upgrade to all of the units at Castle Square, every home now has a hard-wired fire alarm/smoke detector system. The garden apartments (Paul Place, Village Court, Emerald Court and Castle Court) never used to have these devices.

Now, everyone needs to get up-to-date on how to cook, considering these fire safety mechanisms.

• Smoke, steam from cooking and incense will activate new fire alarm.
• Keep your range hood fan operating to exhaust cooking smoke and steam out of your unit.
• If activated, be certain there is no actual fire or danger to you.
• Evacuate the apartment if it is unsafe!! Alert Management and/or the Boston Fire Department: Dial 911.

• If the alarm is false, due to smoking, steam from cooking or something else and is not an actual fire, you have three minutes to circumvent the alarm system.
• Immediately open windows and your door, and fan fresh air toward the detector. Wave the smoke or steam away from the detector as fast as possible. Detectors are located at the base of the staircase in the living room in most garden apartment units.
• The fresh air will cause the alarm to cease. If you do not respond immediately to fan smoke or steam away from a ringing smoke detector, and it rings for more than three minutes, the alarm system will think it is a real fire. The entire apartment block fire alarms will go off and all of your neighbors will be forced to evacuate. This is not pleasant to anyone. You will be charged $250 for not being responsible.

Please be careful with your cooking, and be quick to respond to a false alarm. It is simple to minimize the problem. We hope everyone will be able to help each other prevent false fire alarms. If you have any questions, please call the Management Office at 617 426-5517 or the Castle Square Tenants Organization Office at 617 357-8548 (do not call this number during an emergency). Thank you!

Just for reference: the characters are, starting at the upper right side going clockwise: Ox, Tiger, Hare, DRAGON, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig and Rat (a very cute rat I must say).

Here’s a cool shot of the exterior of the mid-rise building, about to receive more external insulation panels.

Oh no! Oops! We’re going to have to get this rhododendron replaced…can you see it, under the scaffolding platform (now I want to know what it is called). Unfortunately, this shrub is a casualty in our larger project to save the environment by reducing energy use at Castle Square. Alas!

The Castle Square Tenants Organization, on behalf of the Castle Square community, is offering FREE TRAINING SESSIONS for all residents to hear more about the construction project and the improvements to each apartment unit.

Direct assistance to any resident, individualized in your apartment, or in a small-group setting.

—> Trainings are translated: both English and Chinese

—> We gather wherever you choose:  in your apartment or in a hospitality suite

—> any time that works for you: mid-day or evening

—> the sessions last about 45 minutes

We hope we can help many residents at Castle Square enjoy the new features of their apartment and learn new ways to live more lightly on the Earth.

In each training session, you can ask questions and talk about:

• thermostat
• stove & oven
• windows
• recycling
• cleaning products
• energy and water efficiency

Please contact Grey Lee at the CSTO Office at 476 Tremont St to schedule a training session – whenever you want! You can reach him at 617-357-8548 or green@cstoboston.org