A new report has revealed that the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service has been called out to more than 5,000 false fire alarms over the past five years.
The call out to false fire alarms has caused a strain both financially and on the use of resources, with 5,137 false reports being counted.
Figures obtained by Personal Injury Claims UK show that the number of annual visits by the service has been between 950 and 1,100 over a five-year period, which is around 3 incidents a day.
From 2019 to 2020, the service attended 1,018 false fire alarms, which was the third-highest number of visits over the past five years.
A year later, this number stayed around the same, only increasing by 62 visits to 1080, caused by a year of restrictions and lockdowns during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the restrictions lifted, the number of false fire alarm call-outs decreased as, in 2022/23, the number dropped to 959 visits. Over the past year, the service has experienced another jump in false alarm calls, with the total reaching 1,121 in 2023/24.
Common causes of false fire alarms include faulty or poorly designed equipment, poorly trained users, a lack of maintenance, fumes from cooking or burnt food, steam from showers, dust from building or repair work, and aerosols used near sensors.
Personal Injury Claims UK also obtained figures on how many of these false alarms were caused by faulty equipment. While the number of faulty fire alarms has fluctuated since 2019/20, faulty equipment has been one of the main reasons for callouts in Mid and West Wales.
With the number of these call-outs increasing year on year, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue issued an update on their approach to false alarms.
A statement written on the service’s website said: “We will not respond to any calls originating from Automatic Fire Alarm systems (day and night) with the exception of residential premises as well as nursing and care Homes.
“There is a cost to Mid & West Wales Fire and Rescue Service from deploying Firefighting resources unnecessarily, and each false alarm can lead people to become complacent when they hear the fire alarm.”
Across the country, false fire alarms continue to be the largest proportion of incidents attended at 38%.
They prove to be costly and disruptive, amounting to around £1 billion a year for the UK, according to a study by BRE Group.
If the trend continues, false alarms could pose an ongoing risk to individuals' safety as well as affect the efficiency of emergency services.
Personal Injury Claims UK offers free advice and support to anyone impacted by a fire, such as those suffering injuries due to faulty appliances or products.
They operate a 24-hour helpline and claim online form, which you can access on their website.
