How to Reduce False Fire Alarms

According to gov.uk, fire rescue services in England attended no less than 231,510 false fire alarms in the year up to June 2020.

Think about that for a minute.

The year previous to this was 229,961 (so that’s a 6% increase), and five years ago 215,857. Not only is the number going up – it’s simply too high to begin with. So why is this happening when, logically speaking, technology should be improving as the years go on? More importantly, how can we reduce false fire alarms?

Reducing false fire alarms: what causes them?

False fire alarms are typically put into three broad categories: ‘due to apparatus’, ‘good intent’ and ‘malicious’. Due to apparatus refers to when an alarm sounds automatically (i.e. people in the building accidentally set it off, or it sounds due to a perceived hazard); good intent refers to calls made because an individual believes that there really is a fire or incident which requires attention; malicious means that someone deliberately sets off the alarm, or calls to have the fire and rescue service attend knowing there’s no incident.

None of these scenarios are ideal, obviously – but there are definitely things we can do to lower their frequency.

Reducing false fire alarms: why is it so important as a landlord?

Some fire services – including the London Fire Brigade – have actually made moves to recover costs in the event of a false alarm under certain circumstances; as a landlord, you’re often the one held responsible and could be financially liable for these. Further to this, let’s be real for just a second: each and every false alarm attended by a rescue service is taking crucial resources and manpower away from what might be a real incident happening elsewhere. It’s just not good enough.