Fog Machine in Art Installation Prompts False Fire Alarms Pittsburgh

Where there's smoke, there's fire. But fog signals art, as Pittsburgh firefighters are quickly learning.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that firefighters have been called to a downtown public square at least twice — including on Thursday morning — by people who reported smoke when they saw machine-generated fog that's part of a new art installation.

"A Winter Landscape Cradling Bits of Sparkle" by artist Jennifer Wen Ma is a small oasis of mulched trees enveloping a small, boardwalk path. The fog machine belches every 10 minutes to simulate a cloudy mountaintop.

The Office of Public Art, a public-private agency, says firefighters are being advised and the intensity of the fog bursts may be toned down to lessen the chance of future false alarms.

The installation runs through April 12.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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