Automatic Fire Alarms: Consultation on the Proposed Change to London Fire Brigade’s Response to False Alarm Attendance

Task 

An Automatic Fire Alarm is a system that can detect a potential fire and alert occupants or an alarm company to call 999 without the need for anyone to manually activate an alarm. The London Fire Brigade is called to all non-residential Automatic Fire Alarms in London. In 2022/23 Automatic Fire Alarms made up 37% of all London Fire Brigade incidents attended (47,000 calls). However, less than 1% of calls from non-residential Automatic Fire Alarms are ultimately recorded as fires – meaning 99% of calls are false alarms. 

In line with many other fire and rescue services in the UK, London Fire Brigade proposed to stop attending Automatic Fire Alarms in non-residential buildings, such as office blocks or industrial estates, during the day, unless a call is also received from a person reporting a fire. This change will reduce call outs to approximately 10,000 low-risk, low-impact non-residential Automatic Fire Alarms per year (8% of all call outs), which will allow firefighters to spend more time on protection work and operational training. It would also reduce the risk to the public through fewer ‘blue light’ emergency response runs. 

London Fire Brigade ran a public consultation to hear the views of residents, organisations, businesses, community groups and London Fire Brigade staff. The consultation ran from 13th September to 26th October 2023. London Fire Brigade asked TONIC to produce a summary of responses to the consultation. 

TONIC’s Approach 

A total of 261 responses were received to the consultation, with 115 (44%) from members of the public, 93 (36%) from London Fire Brigade staff, 34 (13%) on behalf of organisations, and 19 (7%) who preferred not to say. 

TONIC approached the task by conducting Thematic Analysis on the data using Braun and Clarke’s six step method. Each response was read, all views, ideas, and suggestions were recorded, and the overarching themes were described. These themes were then summarised, explained, and illustrated in a comprehensive report. Notably, before the analysis could begin, a data cleansing process was conducted to ensure all responses being analysed were relevant. 

Outcome 

TONIC produced a report which summarised the consultation responses and explained the headline findings, these included:  

  • Overall, respondents were generally supportive of the proposed change, with exactly half (50%) explicitly stating that they had no concerns regarding its implementation and felt it was a good and welcome idea.  

  • This compares with just under a third (30%) who explicitly stated that they felt the proposed change would increase risk and that London Fire Brigade continue with its current policy of attending Automatic Fire Alarms. 

  • To support the change, respondents primarily suggested that London Fire Brigade engage in a strong publicity campaign, as well as initiate training programmes for building staff. 

  • There was also support from respondents for the issuance of fines and fees for repeat false alarm offenders.