Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service have been called out to over 34,000 false fire alarms over the past five years.
Figures obtained by Personal Injury Claims UK revealed that the service has visited 34,292 false fire alarms since April 2019, putting a strain on finances and resource use.
The data also shows that the service's annual visits to such incidents have been between 6,500 and 7,500 over a five-year period, which is around 18 a day.
From 2019 to 2020, the service attended 6,898 false fire alarms, which was the third-highest number of visits over the past five years.
A year later, this number decreased to 6,431, caused by restrictions and lockdowns during the height of the pandemic.
As the restrictions lifted, the number of false fire alarm callouts rose, reaching 6,990 visits in 2022/23.
Over the past year, the service has experienced another jump in false alarm calls, with the total reaching 7,452 in 2023/24.
Some common causes of false fire alarms include faulty or poorly-designed equipment, poorly-trained users, lack of maintenance, fumes from cooking or burned food, steam from showers, dust from building or repair work and aerosols used near sensors.
Personal Injury Claims UK also obtained figures on how many of these false alarms were caused by faulty equipment.
While the number of faulty fire alarms has fluctuated since 2019/20, faulty equipment has been one of the main reasons for callouts.
With the number of these call-outs increasing year on year, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue issued an update this year to their policy when attending false alarms.
The service said: “As of 1 April 2024, the Service will no longer attend Automatic Fire Alarms (AFA’s) at low-risk commercial premises.
“This change is being introduced to reduce the number of unwanted fire signals attended by fire crews.
“Such mobilisations can cause unnecessary risks to the public and responding firefighters, cause disruption to the business, and may delay a response to a genuine emergency.”
Across the country, false fire alarms continue to be the largest proportion of incidents attended at 38 percent.
They prove to be costly and disruptive, amounting to around £1bn a year for the UK, according to a study by BRE Group.
If the trend continues, false alarms could pose an ongoing risk to individuals' safety as well as affect the efficiency of emergency services.
Personal Injury Claims UK offers free advice and support to anyone impacted by a fire, such as those suffering injuries due to faulty appliances or products.
They operate a 24-hour helpline and claim online form, which people can access on their website.
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