West Lothian Firefighters will no longer rush to false alarm calls

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Firefighters who are no longer rushing to respond to false alarms means West Lothian Council must review its policy for its buildings – including schools.A senior council officer confirmed that that all council services were reassessing options after the introduction this month of the new response policy by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.From the start of July the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has changed how it responds to false alarms, known as Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals (UFAS).Under the previous policy the SFRS would respond to all automated fire signals by sending usually two fire appliances under blue light conditions.It was attending around 28,000 call outs to automated alarms every year.Many responses were to high schools where there was no fire and alarms had been deliberately triggered or went off by accident.After a two-year consultation new rules will mean that SFRS control rooms will contact the owners or duty holders of all buildings when an automated fire alarm is triggered to establish if there is actually a blaze.The only exceptions will be where there is what the SFRS terms “a sleeping risk,” ie hospitals, care homes, hotels and hostels, which will continue to receive attendance without prior question.Fire Service Area Commander William Pollard told councillors at a meeting recently that the new policy was designed to save on road risks to the public and fire crews from travelling under blue light conditions.

The new policy also utilises fire crews better for training.It will save thousands of pounds. The Fire Service says each false alarm call out costs around £2,000.On many occasions automated fire alarms are set off because they have been badly set, or activated by chemicals sych as