Businesses and residents are being asked to help us reduce false alarms.
Overnight we were called to false alarms in Hove, St Leonards-on-Sea, Lewes and Brighton.
False alarms
False alarms divert our crews from real emergencies. If you have an alarm, you can help reduce these call-outs.
- Remember, fire alarm systems are there to alert occupants to the fact that there may be a fire and depending on your fire risk assessment and emergency plans, it is normally appropriate to investigate first and only to call the Fire Service if/when there are any signs to indicate that there is actually a fire.
- If you have an automatic alarm system, make sure it is installed properly, that you know how it works and it is serviced regularly by a competent person. The British Standards Institute's BS 5839 has recommendations for the planning, design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of these systems. If these are followed, a false alarm issue is unlikely to occur.
- Best practice requires that false alarms are logged and investigated so that any patterns and trends are identified and dealt with.
- Be aware that steam and dust can trigger alarms and take precautions when possible.
- Ensure staff and/or residents know what to do when the alarm goes off.
Lift Rescue
- At 17.31 yesterday (11 February) East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service were sent to rescue one person stuck in a lift in Kingsway, Hove. However, the person was rescued before the arrival of firefighters.
We are committed to reducing the high number of non-emergency lift calls as they cost the public money and more importantly mean our crews are unavailable to respond to real emergencies.
The potential of a lift stopping between floors or lift doors failing to open is a foreseeable event that does not always require the attendance of our fire crews.
We expect that the building’s owner or occupants have a way to deal with these non-emergency events when they happen. You should not rely on calling 999.
You should make arrangements to provide a 24/7 non-emergency lift release service within a reasonable period of time, as well as communications facilities inside the elevator so a person can raise the alarm.
https://www.esfrs.org/business/non-emergency-lift-calls/
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