The service visits thousands of false calls every year, with each callout proving to be costly.
London Fire Brigade has been called out to over 50,000 false fire alarms in the past five years, a new investigation has revealed.
Figures obtained by Personal Injury Claims UK revealed that the service has visited 52,605 false fire alarms since April 2019, causing a strain both financially and on the use of resources.
The data also shows that the number of annual visits by the service has been between 9,000 and 12,000 over a five-year period, or around 29 incidents a day.
From 2019 to 2020, the service attended 10,319 false fire alarms, which was the second-lowest number of visits over the past five years.
A year later, this number decreased by 1219 visits to 9100, and this was caused by a year of restrictions and lockdowns during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the restrictions lifted, the number of false fire alarm callouts increased as, in 2022/23, the number rose to 10,797 visits.
Over the past year, the service has experienced another rise in false alarm calls, with the total reaching 11,776 in 2023/24.
Some common causes of false fire alarms include:
- Faulty or poorly designed equipment
- Poorly trained users
- Lack of maintenance
- Fumes from cooking or burnt food
- Steam from showers
- Dust from building or repair work
- Aerosols used near sensors.
Personal Injury Claims UK also obtained figures on how much these false fire alarm callouts cost the service.
While the costs have fluctuated since 2019/20, false alarm visits have cost London Fire Brigade between £3.3m and £4.8m every year.
With the number of callouts impacting the service every year, London Fire Brigade has explained the impact false alarms have on the service.
A statement written on the service’s website said: “Tragically, people have died thinking a real fire was ‘just another false alarm’.
“Most false alarms are the result of an activity such as cooking, smoking or hot works or sometimes simply because the system was not taken off-line when being tested.
“False alarms are dangerous because they can divert fire crews from real emergencies and they can also cause people to become complacent and less willing to act quickly when the alarm activates.”
Across the country, false fire alarms continue to be the largest proportion of incidents attended at 38%.
They prove to be costly and disruptive, amounting to around £1 billion a year for the UK, according to a study by BRE Group.
If the trend continues, false alarms could pose an ongoing risk to individuals’ safety as well as affect the efficiency of emergency services.
Personal Injury Claims UK offers free advice and support to anyone impacted by a fire, such as those suffering injuries due to faulty appliances or products.
They operate a 24-hour helpline and claim online form, which you can access on their website.
For more information please visit: https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/the-workplace/automatic-fire-alarms/
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