Bristol, UK - Fire Alarms UK News May 2020

Fire alarms always a very newsworthy topic, unfortunately, often for the wrong reasons. Here is a roundup of the latest news (May 2020) concerning commercial fire alarms in the UK, including two different stories at tower blocks where residents lives were put at risk.

Owner of Northern Quarter tower block hit by two fires in as many years explains why alarms didn’t sound until everyone was outside

The owner of a Northern Quarter tower block hit by two fires in as many years has explained why fire alarms didn’t sound until everyone was already outside after a blaze at the weekend, reports Manchester Evening News

Residents were alerted to the blaze in the Lighthouse on Joiner Street by a Tesco security guard who ‘screamed at the top of his lungs’ to wake people up until help arrived.

Several residents reported that they did not hear a fire alarm and were awoken by people shouting and banging pots and pans at around 7.30 am on Sunday morning.

The fire, which is believed to have started on a balcony on the fourth or fifth floor, is the second one to have broken out in recent years at the 20-storey Lighthouse building.

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Best Practice in Managing and Reducing False Fire Alarms

fire alarm system installation in BristolTHE PROLIFERATION of false fire alarms places a huge burden on Fire and Rescue Services. Understanding false fire alarm causes and taking steps to prevent them can help reduce false dispatches, as Jim O’Dwyer duly explains in “Fire Safety Matters”.

The threat of fire is known to all. There’s no need to overstate the devastating impact of fire on people, wildlife, businesses and buildings. Only recently, Sydney and its surrounding areas have been devastated by raging bush fires, while here in the UK there was a 14% increase in fire incidents attended in 2018-2019 compared with the previous year, which was linked to the hot, dry summer in 2018.

Fire safety is a critical issue, and especially so in enclosed spaces. Indeed, it’s an essential component of building safety. A key aspect of fire safety is the prevention of fire in the first place. A combination of monitoring and alarm systems can help to prevent an uncontrolled fire.

While fire monitoring and alarm systems have an irreplaceable role, false alarms can have an enormous impact on the entire fire safety process. According to official Government statistics, in the financial year 2018-2019 (1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019), England’s Fire and Rescue Services attended 229,805 fire false alarms. That’s an average of 629 false calls every day.

Economic impact

For its part, the Fire Industry Association estimates that false alarms cost the UK over £1 billion per annum. You might think the majority of these fire episodes cannot be prevented, with rogue actors or “malicious calls” being the main cause. However, 65% of these false alarms were due to apparatus issues and largely avoidable.

False fire alarms have economic impacts and can affect a number of other areas. The burden on the Fire Brigade can be enormous and the cost to business high, while there’s also the potential for other issues, such as limited assistance in the case of real fires if Fire and Rescue Services are busy responding to false alarms.

Find out everything you need to know here: elitefiresecurity.co.uk/fire-alarms-uk-news-may-2020/