Schools responsible for a quarter of automatic false alarms

False alarms in County Durham and Darlington schools were the cause of about 180 calls to the fire service last year.

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) was called to 750 false alarms in 2017/18 caused automatic fire detectors.

A quarter of these were triggered in schools, mainly during holidays while building work was being carried out.

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Presenting the figures at this morning’s (Tuesday, July 17) meeting of the Combined Fire Authority for County Durham and Darlington, fire chiefs said they were working with councils and schools to prevent alarms being triggered unnecessarily.

Keith Wanley, head of community risk management, said: “It’s important work, reducing false alarms, because it reduces the amount of time that could be used on other fire reduction and prevention work.”

According to a report prepared for the fire authority, which oversees the work of CDDFRS, an unnamed school in Lanchester was responsible for six automated false alarms which were later found to have been caused by a leaky ceiling.

CDDFRS was called to a total of 2,316 false alarms in 2017/18.

 

James Harrison

James Harrison , Local Democracy Reporting Service