North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is taking steps to reduce the number of false alarms it attends, particularly during overnight hours, according to a recent public meeting.
The meeting, held online, provided an opportunity for senior fire officers to present performance data for the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year and answer questions from the public and the Deputy Mayor for Police, Fire, and Crime.
Damian Henderson, Director of Service Improvement and Assurance for NYFRS, reported that the service attended 1,855 incidents between April and June 2023:
Of those incidents, 877 were false alarms. This represents a slight increase in false alarm incidents compared to the same period last year. Notably, 482 of these false alarm calls, representing more than half, occurred between the hours of 6 p.m. and 8 a.m.
Henderson emphasized that NYFRS is committed to responding to all alarms where there is a potential sleeping risk. "If it is a sleeping risk we will always attend to any false alarm,” he stated. However, the service is actively exploring ways to reduce the number of avoidable overnight callouts.
One strategy involves enhanced communication with businesses and other organizations with fire alarm systems. This includes encouraging the appointment of fire wardens and stressing the importance of routine maintenance checks. Henderson also noted that control room staff have implemented a “call challenge” procedure during daytime hours for alarms in non-residential buildings. This procedure involves contacting the alarm holder to confirm whether a fire crew is genuinely needed before dispatching resources.
While the meeting did not outline specific measures for reducing false alarms in residential settings, it did highlight a number of broader prevention initiatives. NYFRS has significantly increased its focus on home fire safety visits, conducting 84 visits to very high-risk properties and 551 visits to high-risk properties during the first quarter alone. This represents a substantial increase compared to the previous year, when just over 100 high and very high-risk visits were carried out during the entire 12-month period.
The service has also fully implemented a post-incident engagement policy. Under this policy, fire crews are required to identify and address potential fire risks at every incident they attend, regardless of the reason for the callout.
These proactive measures, combined with ongoing public education efforts, aim to reduce the incidence of fires and false alarms across North Yorkshire. The sources do not contain information on whether NYFRS plans to implement a non-emergency phone number for the public to use to report false alarms, similar to the system used by some other fire and rescue services.
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