Following a public consultation, HIWFRS will no longer automatically send crews when there is an automatic fire alarm notification in buildings with no sleeping risk, during the hours of 08:00 and 18:00hrs, unless there are confirmed signs of fire.
This policy applies to commercial, non-residential buildings such as shops, offices, leisure centres, libraries and warehouses. The Service will continue to attend automatic fire alarm notifications at buildings where there is a sleeping risk, such as hotels, hospitals, care homes, houses, and flats. There are also exceptions for heritage buildings, educational institutions during holidays, and specific alarm specifications.
In all cases, an emergency response will continue to be sent to 999 calls and confirmed fires.
Our data shows that over 97% of the automatic fire alarm calls received turned out to be false alarms. In 2023 this resulted in almost 6,500 false alarm attendances by HIWFRS firefighters.
The change in our response to AFAs aims to reduce unnecessary disruptions to businesses and it gives us more time and resources to focus on other priorities such as, increasing fire prevention in your community and freeing up our firefighters to respond to real emergencies.
Neighbouring fire services already follow this policy, freeing up their crews to ensure they are available to respond to real emergencies, rather than false alarms which are often caused by aerosol sprays, cooking fumes, or poorly maintained fire alarm systems.
Ahead of the changes, HIWFRS is running an awareness campaign to help owners of premises affected to understand the change and ensure that they are meeting their responsibilities under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Phil Barrett, HIWFRS Area Manager for Service Delivery said:
“This change will help strengthen our response to more urgent incidents and enable the service to better utilise resources across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
“We will be sharing information on our website and social media channels, as well as engaging with as many affected premises as possible, to ensure they are aware of the change and continue to have adequate fire safety measures in place.”
Further information on preparing for the changes can be found in the dedicated AFA area of our website.