Berkshire’s fire service has seen a rise in false alarms, according to newly revealed data.
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) has been called out to more than 18,000 false fire alarms over the past five years.
Figures obtained by Personal Injury Claims UK revealed that the service has visited 18,623 false fire alarms since April 2019. Within this, there has been an increase in these.
From 2019 to 2020, the service attended 3,567 false fire alarms, which was the second-lowest number of visits over the past five years.
A year later, this number decreased to 3,339 – but that is believed to be as a result of restrictions and lockdowns during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As restrictions lifted, the number of faulty fire alarm callouts increased. In 2022/23, the number rose to 3,847 visits – greater than pre-pandemic levels.
Over the past year, the service has experienced another jump in false alarm calls, with the total reaching 4,212 in 2023/24.
Some common causes of false fire alarms include:
Faulty or poorly designed equipment
Poorly trained users
Lack of maintenance
Fumes from cooking or burnt food
Steam from showers
Dust from building or repair work
Aerosols used near sensors.
Across the country, false fire alarms continue to be the largest proportion of incidents attended, at 38 per cent.
They are costly and disruptive, amounting to around £1billion a year for the UK, according to a study by BRE Group.
False alarms pose an ongoing risk to individuals' safety as well as affect the efficiency of emergency services.
With the number of false alarms putting a strain on the service, RBFRS has updated its policy when attending false alarms.
A statement written on the service’s website says:
“As a Fire and Rescue Service, it is our duty to respond to fires, not to automatic fire alarms, which we know on 99 per cent of occasions were false alarms.
“We have changed the way we respond to Automatic Fire Alarms in certain types of buildings from 20 September 2024.
“We want to reduce the number of false alarm calls to ensure firefighters are free to respond to genuine emergencies.
“Additionally, attending false alarm calls creates a significant disruption to other more risk-critical activities.”
Personal Injury Claims UK also obtained figures on how many false alarms were caused by malicious calls.
Malicious calls are deliberate false fire alarms, often termed as hoaxes, which can divert emergency services from genuine incidents, putting lives and property at risk.
While the number of malicious calls has fluctuated since 2019/20, they have contributed to around 90 callouts every year in Berkshire.
This research came via 'Personal Injury Claims UK: www.personalinjuryclaimsuk.org.uk/personal-injury-compensation/our-research-into-false-call-outs-to-the-fire-service
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