Essex businesses reminded over fire alarm response changes

Office and factory owners in Essex have been warned that from today there will be no response by Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) to automatic fire alarms.

The decision to reduce the response with regards to business premises has been made in order to lower the risks to the public by concentrating resources on emergency situations.

Fire crews will not respond to certain calls which come from automatic alarms in these business premises, or 999 calls where the person on the phone in telephone kiosks hangs up.

ECFRS hope that they will be able to improve their response service to homes in the area after they revealed that 97 percent of these automatic fire alarm cases are false.

Chief fire officer David Johnson expects resources to be utilised more effectively, placing the fire safety initiative back on commercial and industrial businesses to look after their own alarms.

He said:

“I am sure that home owners and businesses would rather our fire crews and appliances are ready to respond to their real emergencies, rather than them not being available because they are sitting outside factories or offices dealing with yet another of the thousands of false alarms that the service gets on a yearly basis.”

Flyers have been sent out to all businesses in the county explaining to them about the new system and warning them of their responsibility in maintaining their alarm systems more effectively.