False callouts attended by London Fire Brigade rose by over 15% from 2021 to 2023, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
Around 51,000 false callouts were attended in 2021 across London, compared to over 60,000 in 2023, according to statistics obtained by the North West Londoner.
It comes after the brigade announced in October that they would no longer attend automatic fire alarms in most non-residential buildings unless a call is also received from a person reporting a fire.
Assistant London Fire Brigade commissioner for prevention and protection Craig Carter said: “We are here to keep London’s communities safe, and we want to do this as effectively as possible.
“We will always attend an emergency and will continue to attend an alarm at any premises where people sleep, such as homes, hotels and prisons.
“Reducing our attendance at false alarms will give firefighters more time to focus on protection and prevention activity.”
The new policy will only apply between the hours of 7am and 8.30pm.
Outside of these hours, the brigade will attend all automatic fire alarms in any building.
The brigade confirmed that no fines had been issued for any of the false callouts.
It is London Fire Brigade policy to fine businesses if they attend more than ten false alarms in a 12-month period, though this does not apply to domestic callouts.
When this policy was announced in 2018, the Brigade had been called to 403 locations more than ten times in the preceding year.
It was estimated that the cost of attending these callouts alone was around £800,000.
In the same period, there were over 25,000 callouts to false alarms at non-residential or other businesses, costing a total of around £37m.
If fines had been in place, hospitals alone would have faced a bill of nearly £500,000.
Other fire brigades in the country also charge for false callouts.
Humberside Fire and Rescue Service charge a minimum callout fee of £417 per hour.
This is incurred if the service is called to attend four or more false alarms at the same organisation premises within a 12-month rolling period.
Humberside’s callout charges vary depending on how many fire engines and crew members attend.
The minimum fee incorporates one crew manager at £43.50 an hour, three firefighters at £120.75 an hour and one fire engine at £166.25 an hour.
It also includes the administration costs of a station manager at £58.50 an hour and one hour of a member of staff at £28 an hour.
London Fire Brigade note there can be many reasons for false callouts.
Common causes include poor alarm design or maintenance, dust inside detectors, or steam.
The changes are being introduced in London following a consultation held in 2023 with members of the public, businesses, firefighters and other brigade staff.
Image: Graham Mitchell via Wikimedia Commons
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