Why Do Fire Alarms Only Go Off on the Coldest Day of the Year?

Seriously. I've lived here for 14 years and this is only the second time the fire alarm has gone off. I'd been doing my Saturday morning thing of reading fic in my pajamas and it was 17 degrees (Fahrenheit) outside, so after checking my door for smoke or heat, I took the chance of getting dressed down to my long underwear before I went out. I still made it out of the building before the fire department showed up. Fortunately it was a false alarm, although a fire might have been nice for the heat. Did I mention it was 17 degrees outside?

I continue to be one of only three or four people who bother to evacuate when the fire alarm goes off. Two people came out to let their dogs do their business, then walked past the fire trucks and went back inside. There was a woman and her two little kids on the third floor watching the whole thing out the window like it was reality TV. I shudder to think what would happen if there ever really was a fire here. There actually have been three fires in this complex since I moved here, one of them fatal, although none of them were in my building.