Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue visit over 13,000 false and faulty fire alarms since 2019

The service visits thousands of false calls every year, with faulty alarms being one of the reasons for these callouts.

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service have been called out to over 13,000 false fire alarms over the past five years, a new investigation has revealed.

Figures obtained by Personal Injury Claims UK revealed that the service has visited 13,627 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 2400 and 3048 over a five-year period, which is around 20 incidents a day.

From 2019 to 2020, the service attended 2393 false fire alarms, which was the lowest number of visits over the past five years.

A year later, this number increased to 2571, even despite a year of restrictions and lockdowns during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the restrictions lifted, the number of false fire alarm call outs continued to rise as, in 2022/23, the number increased to 2840 visits.

Over the past year, the service has experienced another jump in false alarm calls, with the total reaching 3048 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 many of these false alarms were caused by faulty equipment.

While the number of faulty fire alarms has fluctuated since 2019/20, faulty equipment has been one of the main reasons for callouts in Bedfordshire.

With the number of these call-outs increasing year on year, Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue issued have explained the impact that false alarms have on the service.

A statement written on the service’s website said: “False automatic fire alarms put lives at risk, not just by taking fire crews away from genuine emergencies but by unnecessary travel under blue lights to the false alarm, with the associated risk to other road users.

“It also impacts upon employers whose employees are on-call firefighters and leave work to attend fire calls which, in the case of false alarms, turn out to be unnecessary.”

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.

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