The South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service have freed firefighters’ time by no longer attending automated fire alarms in commercial buildings unless a blaze has been confirmed following a rise in business false fire alarms.
Business False Fire Alarms
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue had been automatically sending fire engines out to premises whenever a fire alarm went off and the signal reached a receiving centre. But in 97% of cases, the service attended business premises and they turned out to be a false alarm. Fire crews have wasted over 1,000 hours investigating false alarms – which could have been better spent on training, community work, or attending genuine incidents.
The change is in line with decisions made around the country, and the National Fire Chiefs Council has this position on automatic fire alarms in commercial buildings. It does not apply to high-risk premises such as universities, hospitals, hotels or high rise flats.
Andy Strelczenie, Area Manager, said: “False alarms make up a big proportion of the incidents our firefighters attend. We will always attend incidents when our service is required, but frequent attendance at false alarms disrupts our training and increases the risk to firefighters who rush to incidents that turn out to be false alarms. It is the responsibility of businesses to make sure their alarm systems checked and maintained and it’s important that they do this before the changes come into force.”
Safety tips for businesses include:
- Keeping fire escapes clear– make sure stock is stored away from fire escapes, so staff and customers can get out in the event of a fire
- Check your alarm systems – regular maintenance helps to eliminate false alarms
- Conduct a fire risk assessment– it helps reduce the risk of a fire in the first place and helps ensure you comply with the fire safety laws
- Sprinklers– consider installing them, but leave a distance between stock and sprinkler heads
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