A method for monitoring a location performed by one or more processors comprises receiving signals from a smoke sensor; determining one or more minutiae from the received signals; determining a time window based on the at least one determined one or more minutiae; characterizing one or more smoke or fire types in the determined time window based on one or more of the determined one or more minutiae; dynamically determining one or more alarm levels based on the characterized one or more smoke or fire types; evaluating at least one minutiae in the determined time window using the determined one or more alarm levels; and outputting an alarm signal if an alarm condition is determined.