What are the Consequences?
The cost to commerce
The latest figures published by the government estimate that the cost of false alarms in the UK is around £1 billion a year. Much of this cost is borne by commerce from lost production and interruptions to business.
- Major disruption to business effectiveness, efficiency, profitability & services
- Frequent false alarms in a building can cause staff to become complacent and less willing to react when a fire alarm actuates
- Cost to business of retained firefighters being released
Impact on Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service
Unwanted fire signals affect the Derbyshire Fire & Rescue service by:
- Diverting essential services from emergencies (putting life and property at risk)
- Unnecessary risk to crew & public whilst responding (accidents)
- Disruption to arson reduction, community safety & fire safety activities (education, smoke alarms etc.)
- Disruption to training of operational personnel
- Impact on the environment over 4,000 unnecessary appliance movements (noise and CO2 emissions)
- Drain on public finances
Danger to other road users
Any fire call received by Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service is attended by fire appliances responding under "emergency conditions". Whilst attending a premises where the only indication is a fire alarm sounding, our crews receive no additional information in regards to the nature of the incident. Although our drivers are trained to the highest standard, they and other road users are unnecessarily exposed to increased danger at these times.
Cost to Derbyshire council tax payers
The associated cost to the people of Derbyshire is approximately £848 per call* and with 4096 turnouts to false alarms in 2008, this suggests that the cost to council tax payers is in the region of £ 3,500,000 per year.
If a fire engine is at a false alarm, it is not available to respond to a real fire. False alarms put our communities at risk!
*Cost of fire to society and the economy calculated using the ready reckoner toolkit (CLG)
