Automatic fire alarm (AFA) systems

• Each year, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service attend over 3500 incidents, as a result of false alarms from automatic fire alarm systems. This is a significant drain on our resources and disrupts other activities such as training and community safety work, as well as meaning that fire engines are unavailable for emergencies.
• In an effort to reduce the impact of these false alarms, we are going to trial responding to some of them in a different way as of 4 April 2011. The trial will initially take place in Southsea and Cosham with a view to trial other areas in the future.
• In these areas, unless we are informed that an automatic fire alarm is as a result of a fire, we will treat it as a false alarm in any building that isn't used for sleeping. This will only happen between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm on weekdays. We will still send someone to check what the cause of the alarm is, but this won't be in a fire engine and we won't class it as an emergency.
• Instead we will send a Fire Safety Officer, who can offer advice on how best to manage the fire alarm system and if necessary, carry out a fire safety audit of the entire building to help ensure compliance with current fire regulations.
• We will continue to send a fire engine to schools and buildings where people may sleep such as care homes, hotels and hospitals. If we are informed that a fire alarm has activated because there is a fire, we will of course treat this as an emergency and send a fire engine to deal with it.
• We believe this is a better use of resources and will keep our fire engines available for emergencies, whilst allowing a Fire Safety Officer to provide whatever advice and guidance is necessary to encourage businesses to manage their fire alarm systems more effectively.

• What are Automated Fire Alarms?
  An Automatic Fire Alarm (AFA) is a fire alarm system, which is commonly found in commercial buildings. It is designed to detect a fire and warn people in the building so they can evacuate safely.  
• Why are they a problem to the Fire Service?
  Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) receives thousands of calls each year to commercial buildings where there has been an activation of an automatic fire alarm as a result of an accidental or ‘unwanted’ fire signal (UWFS) being produced. Between 1st January and 31st December 2009 there were a total of 3828 automatic fire alarm calls received, of which 97% were false alarms, or unwanted fire signals. Unwanted fire signals cause considerable disruption to our community safety and training activities, and prevent appliances being available for other emergencies. It also causes unnecessary ‘blue light’ emergency vehicle movements and costs the tax payer money.
• What exactly is the Service planning to do?
  For the reasons given above, HFRS will treat all automatic fire alarm calls as unwanted fire signals unless information is received to say that there is a fire at the premises. For any building used for sleeping, an emergency response of a fire appliance will still be mobilised, but for non-sleeping businesses, between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm, the response will consist of a Fire Safety Officer in a van as a non-emergency response. This officer may take up to one hour to arrive at the building concerned depending on local traffic conditions, but will be aiming to arrive at the premises as soon as possible.

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• If it is a false alarm, surely you won’t know until you get there?
  When HFRS receive a call to say an automatic fire alarm has operated, control operators will decide whether to treat the call as a fire, or as an unwanted fire signal depending on the information received. If the response to be mobilised is a non-emergency one, the caller will be informed of this and advised to call back if a fire is discovered. From the data analysis over the past four years, we are able to identify that the chances of there being a fire that requires some form of fire service intervention is minimal. The slight increase in risk is acceptable when considered alongside the automatic fire alarm that has actuated, the occupant’s subsequent awareness of the alarm and opportunity to evacuate, and active and passive fire precautions managed under workplace fire safety legislation. Should someone confirm that a fire has occurred, then the normal emergency response will be instantly mobilised in the normal way.
• What should the occupiers of the commercial building do?
  The responsible person within the business is legally responsible for all fire safety matters in their building.  This includes a responsibility for managing the fire alarm system where one is fitted and for having suitable evacuation and emergency procedures in place.
  • We would encourage the business to investigate any fire alarm activation to decide if there is a need to dial 999 before doing so. The benefits of investigating the cause of the fire alarm include:
  • A reduction in disruption to the business which could result in loss of time and money;
  • Provides an opportunity for trained staff to extinguish a small fire in the early stages, rather than waiting for the fire service to extinguish a larger one that may cause more damage and business disruption.

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• The Fire Service used to tell people to get out and call the fire service if the alarm went off, why has this changed?
  With changes in fire safety legislation and the focus of fire service activities being on prevention, it is not considered to be a good use of our resources to send an emergency appliance to a call that is likely to be a false alarm. The responsible person at the business should have procedures in place to check the cause of an alarm activation before calling the fire service. The officer we will send to the incident will be able to give advice on how to manage the fire alarm more effectively and on how to safely investigate an alarm. The officer will also be able to carry out a full audit of all fire safety systems at the premises if this is thought to be necessary and appropriate.
• Surely more people will die as a result of us not attending?
  This process will only be introduced in commercial buildings where no-one sleeps. It will only apply to the time between 9 am and 5 pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.
  • It is also important to note that an automatic fire alarm is a system devised to provide the occupants with an early warning of fire, and thereby save lives through early detection and evacuation. The management of the system itself and the safe evacuation from the property is the responsibility of the owner/occupier and this is their legal obligation under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
  • For these reasons, any increase in the likelihood of someone being killed or seriously injured in this type of premises, is considered to be negligible.
• If it is a fire it will be larger when the fire service do attend and as a result this will pose a greater risk to the health and safety of firefighters?
  Firstly remember that 97% of automatic fire alarm calls are unwanted fire signal. Secondly remember the types of premises that the trial will be dealing with. It is unlikely that a fire will develop in an occupied building without being noticed by someone in that building.
  • The purpose of a fire alarm system is to notify the occupants of a building that there is a fire. It is the responsibility of the occupier to ensure that appropriate actions are taken to evacuate the building and to mitigate the effects of the fire.
  • In the types of premises that are involved in the trial, it is considered unlikely that a fire would develop significantly without the occupier noticing, particularly once the fire alarm has activated.
  • As with all incidents, the Incident Commander will asses the situation and deploy resources to deal with it based upon the risks and benefits involved.

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• What will the Service be doing to assist owners of commercial premises in order to reduce their risk?
  HFRS have been advising and educating businesses on how to manage their fire alarm systems more effectively for the past 5 years. This has helped to reduce the number of unwanted fire signals significantly. We also provide free fire safety awareness training to help owners/occupiers to be able to comply with their obligations with regards to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
  • We have recently undertaken training on business continuity and will be able to pass this information on to businesses to help make them more resilient.
  • Our website has useful information for businesses regarding free safety advice and information. Our Inspecting Officers carry out around 3000 visits every year to advise business owners and managers on fire safety matters.
• What are the advantages of this, why are we trying to mend something that isn’t broken?
  The concept of ‘not being broken’ is misleading. Whilst the Business Education Unit has done a really good job of reducing unwanted fire signals over the past 5 years, we are still sending emergency appliances to almost 400 calls a year where they aren’t needed.  The advantages of this procedure are:
  • Protection officers are better equipped to reduce unwanted fire signal through education, and where necessary, enforcement;
  • Response resources will see a reduction in the number of times their training and community safety activities are disrupted;
  • Response resources will be kept available for genuine emergency calls;
  • Road risk through ‘blue light’ emergency mobilisation will be reduced;
  • Fuel and mobilisation costs will be reduced.
• Will the reduced number of calls influence the fire cover review and result in fire station closures or reduced number of appliances on stations?
  The trial is designed to ensure that the most appropriate resource is sent to deal with the fire alarm activation. Protection officers have the skills and knowledge to offer advice on how to manage the alarm system, and if necessary, the legal powers to carry out any enforcement activity that may be necessary. Any future review of fire cover will be based upon call profiles and activity, available finances and the priorities of HFRS at the time.  If the trial is successful it will reduce the number of calls that response resources attend, but it is not likely to be a deciding factor as to whether a station, or an appliance is moved.  

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• How will this affect retained calls and reduced pay for firefighters?
  Obviously if calls go down then this will affect pay. We have retained staff at St Mary’s and Basingstoke stations, which will be involved in the trial and they will probably notice a reduction in calls.  
• Do other Fire and Rescue Services do the same?
  Most fire services are considering the issue of unwanted fire signals and how best to address the problem. Some fire services have decided to no longer respond at all to automatic fire alarms in non-sleeping premises, unless there is a call to confirm that there is a fire. We are unaware of any other service adopting the same approach as HFRS.
• Are there any legal implications in what we are doing?
  As a public service governed by statute there are of course legal implications which have needed to be considered. Having done so, the Service does not believe there to be any legal barriers preventing the implementation of this trial.
• Have the Representative Bodies been consulted in this process?
  The Fire Brigades Union (FBU), Retained Firefighters Union (RFU) and Fire Officers Association (FOA) have been involved in the process and have been helpful in shaping the procedure.
• Have the public been consulted in this process?
  Yes and the overall response was positive and supportive of this proposal.