Fire crews proposing 'not automatically attending every fire alarm'

Fire crews in Devon and Somerset are consulting on stopping automatically attending some fire alarms.

Over the past five years crews responded to 55,000 automatic fire alarms, out of which just 42 needed the hose reel jet from one of our fire engines or less than 0.08%.  

Crews respond to an average of 16 false alarms every day.

Chief Fire Officer Gavin Ellis said: “We will always attend if someone has reported a sign of fire. We will also always attend domestic properties, such as houses, or where there is a known night-time sleeping risk.

“I’m aware that any change to fire response can make people feel unsettled. Any change is only to what we will do in response to an automatic alert, not a report of a fire.

"We’re looking to see how we can reduce the number of automatic fire alarms we attend to make our service more efficient, and make sure our firefighters are able to respond to genuine emergencies."

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