Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service (MAWWFRS), who cover Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Powys, say this new approach to its response to Automatic Fire Alarm (AFA) calls will start from 1 July 2024.
The fire service say Automatic Fire Alarms (AFAs) are designed to detect the presence of smoke or flames and alert individuals to potential fire hazards. However, statistics show that the majority of signals from these systems are false alarms, often triggered by cooking fumes, dust, or inadequate maintenance.
In light of this, from July 1st 2024, MAWWFRS say they will no longer respond to AFA calls, except in specific circumstances including residential premises, nursing and care homes, and premises subject to fire safety prohibition or enforcement notices.
Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service’s Head of Corporate Risk and Area Manager, Peter Greenslade said; “As a Service we attend in excess of 2000 alarm actuations in commercial buildings every year with over 99% of these calls being false alarms. This disrupts the community safety work that the Service can deliver, operational training for crews and introduces environmental and road risks that are unnecessary. Additionally, the businesses themselves are impacted due to the disruption caused.”
He continued; “It is important that commercial premises take ownership of false fire alarms within their premises as is their legislative duty. We will of course always respond to 999 calls when people have identified that there is a fire.”
(Lead image: Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service)
