Region’s fire service could charge for frequent false alarm call-outs

A FIRE service could start charging for frequent false alarm callouts, after the move was backed in a public consultation.

Some 86 per cent of those who responded to Humberside Fire and Rescue Service’s (HFRS) survey were in favour. The brigade also consulted on no longer turning out to a fire alarm at a business during normal working hours where there is no confirmed blaze. Again a majority - 77 per cent - were in favour.

If approved at the meeting of Humberside Fire Authority on Monday, the changes will be phased in over a six-month period.

HFRS gets about 1,400 false alarms calls a year and says they are an unnecessary drain on resources.

West Yorkshire adopted both policies and saw false alarms fall by 70 per cent from 11,000 in 2013 to 3,243 in 2017.

A report being discussed on Monday said 550 people responded to the survey – including 311 members of the public and 73 business owners.

Director of public safety Paul McCourt said attending 1,400 false alarms was “probably not the best use of time and effort” when they could be making hundreds of visits to vulnerable residents or doing training.

He said: “If we are going to a false alarm, we are not able to attend a genuine emergency.”

The level of charges have not yet been decided, but charging a business first time was “out of the question. He said: “The key point is frequent and repeated false alarms.”