Single f ire service feels heat as false alarms rise

THE creation of a single Scottish fire service has triggered a surge in ‘emergency’ callouts to false alarms. The concerns were raised yesterday in a report by the HM Fire Service Inspectorate, which said 98 per cent of fire alarm incidents turned out to be false.

They put huge pressure on the service, which must respond to each call, and threatened road safety.

Before the eight brigades were merged into one service, each might have taken a different approach – not always responding with blue lights flashing.

But the single service, launched in April last year, means universal guidelines are in place.

As a result, ‘blue light’ call-outs are becoming much more com- mon, potentially adding to road hazards.

The report wants fewer ‘false’ callouts via improvements to alarms and better liaison with the owners of premises.

The Inspectorate’s report, using Scottish Fire and Rescue Service ( SFRS) data, pointed to an increase of 10,000 ‘ emergency’ j ourneys across the country this year.

It said: ‘We predict that the City of Edinburgh will experience more than 5,000 extra journeys a year – a 110 per cent increase in journeys in response to automatic (AFA) fire alarm calls.’

The increase stemmed from a standardisation of response policy across Scotland.

The report added: ‘We cannot see at what point in the process the additional risk from these extra journeys has been weighed against the expected gain from them.

‘It is self- evident that changes on this scale will increase the likelihood of accidents and injuries.’

The introduction of a single, national policy was behind the significant increases in ‘blue light’ journeys.

The Inspectorate called for other measures to be looked at such as fewer fire engines sent to an AFA call – or some appliances keeping to the speed limit.

This would have to be done ‘without unreasonably increasing the risk to occupiers of buildings with AFA systems’.

In a pilot scheme in Glasgow, firefighters liaised with building owners on ways to prevent alarms going off by accident.

The Inspectorate said fitting special covers to protect manual ‘break-glass’ call points from accidental damage could lead to a significant drop in false alarms.’

The SFRS said the service ‘inherited a wide range of varying policies from the previous eight fire and rescue services and introduced a policy and procedures to ensure a consistent national approach’.

A spokesman said: ‘ We have been engaging with building owners and occupiers and working closely with them to help reduce the number of false alarm signals in their premises.

‘ We strive f or continuous improvement and we are currently working with regulators, designers and manufacturers to influence future system design.’

‘Road safety being put at risk’