West Midlands Fire Service attends more than ten thousand false alarm calls per annum generated from Automatic Fire Alarms (AFA’s). Ninety eight percent of these false alarms are unwanted fire signals where on arrival there is no fire or emergency incident. It is clear that this is a huge drain on the tax payer and an emergency response by a fire appliance puts the public at risk when in reality there is no requirement for the Fire Service to be mobilised.
West Midlands Fire Service has worked hard to achieve a policy and procedure that allows an appropriate and proportional response to automatic fire alarm calls based upon risk analysis.
One of the best ways that a Fire Service can glean risk based information in order to make the most appropriate response is by speaking to the premises directly. This enables our fire control operators to ask all relevant questions of the responsible person at the premises and send the appropriate resources to save life and protect property.
From the 4th April 2011 West Midlands Fire Service will no longer respond to calls from Alarm Receiving Centres (ARC) unless the premises is a specified life risk building between the hours of 0800hrs and 2000hrs.
We will still automatically respond to the following premises at all times of the day:
During the hours of 2000hrs – 0800hrs WMFS will respond to all calls received through ARC but with an appropriate level of response depending on the premises type. We would actively encourage you to work with your clients to reduce unwanted fire signals during this period.
West Midlands Fire Service will always attend a premises that confirms that there is a fire through the 999 system. This policy will enable West Midlands Fire Service to gather accurate information and send the most effective resources to provide the best service to the community we serve.
For further information on the scheme please view our Automatic Fire Alarms FAQ's document
