Fire service had to contend with 518 false alarms in 2023
More than 500 false fire alarms were attended by the Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service in 2023.
But only three were set off maliciously.
The reasons for alarms being set off range from poor maintenance and damage to contaminants, such as midges and dust.
Good intent false alarms could also be triggered by overheating appliances, reflected sunlight or genuine belief of a fire.
In total, 515 genuine false alarms were attended, while an additional three were set off by somebody deliberately in 2023.
Response priorities are decided by taking into consideration building density, separation, construction, number of storeys and occupancy rating to provide a potential fire risk grading.
‘A number of specific premises such as fuel depots, hospitals, prisons or airports that presented an abnormal or higher risk are classified as “special risk”,’ said fire safety manager Gary Van der Linden.
‘This means more appliances, specialist appliances and more personnel.’
He said that automatic fire detection did not have a specific average response time as there were several variable steps before the service would be notified of an alarm.
Some premises are linked to a monitoring centre, which would contact the responsible person first to confirm if they are aware of the alarm. If that person was unaware, the centre would then contact the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre, which in turn would dispatch the Fire Service.
‘The Fire Service tries hard to work with responsible people for premises with automatic fire detection and fire alarm engineers to reduce the numbers of false alarms,’ said Mr Van der Linden.
‘We do want to avoid emergency response vehicles responding unnecessarily.’
An automatic fire alarm would attract a pre-determined attendance of at least four personnel, which would allow for investigation and action.
The majority of premises with automated detection systems are situated in St Peter Port.
If a high priority call came in while a false alarm was being investigated, the service would divert to the greater risk.
Crews attending a false alarm would give advice to the occupants of the property about how to prevent a recurrence. Alarms should be tested weekly and undergo annual maintenance.
