Posted By Brenda H
I'm reviewing our fire action plan (what to do in the event of an evacuation), and as our fire alarm system isn't connected direct to the fire brigade, someone will have to make a decision on whether to call the brigade.

Can anyone suggest wording for decision making process of this task.

Firstly they will go to the control panel to establish what zone the alarm is sounding in.

Then, is it reasonable for them to go and check the area? If so, what things should they look out for?

Many thanks

Posted By water67.
Hi, your standard procedure should be to designate someone to call the fire service as soon as the alarm goes off and not to send someone to investigate first. You will have lost valuable time re the fire service getting there and attacking the blaze. Even if a small fire you can't assume your staff will get it under control. Look to designate someone who is always present - receptionist etc. and ensure there is a back up if they are not around..lunch breaks, on holiday, sick absence etc. If it's a false alarm too bad.. the fire service won't be to hard on you so Long as it isn't every other day. Bottom line you are putting in jeopardy your building and possibly peoples life..and livelihood

Posted By Mitch
Brenda,

A fire officer told me during training a couple of years ago that they (the fire service) would rather attend a false alarm than a funeral, he also quoted a time of 4 minutes for a fire to take hold? (one for he experts) so don't faff around, sound the alarm was his advice.

Mitch

Posted By Paul Tidswell
The fire service will only charge for call outs if it is excessive (i.e. repeated call outs due to the same Automatic Fire Detection(AFD) false alarm) and even then only if no action has been taken to resolve the fault. Most modern alarm systems have the ability to isolate a faulty detector this is to allow time for the engineer to track down the problem. In general it is very rare for the fire service to charge for false alarms and if you are getting concerned about the number of calls talk to them and they will advise you on what to do.

Hope this helps.

Posted By pluto
No Fire and Rescue Service will, or can charge for false alarms.

They may, at a push refuse to turn out without human confirmation of the fire, (or trim down the level of response, or drive at normal road speed).

Ultimately, they may take you to court for failing to provide an effective means of detecting a fire and raising the alarm. To do this they would probably have to prove that people in the building were failing to take the correct action on hearing the alarm because they were just assuming it was just another 'false alarm'.

Posted By MT
Agree with the others - the plan should *always* be that as soon as the alarm is activated, the nominated person makes the 999 call. The fire wardens should already be escorting staff and visitors out of their designated area, and the receptionist should be outdoors at the assembly point with the visitors book. Never expect anyone to go and check that there actually is a fire.

Posted By MGF
Hi Brenda

As an aside you will also need to know what response you may / may not get from local fire service once the call has been made.
Recent policy changes and responses from the fire service have meant our procedures need fine tuning as the call centres may now ask for confirmation of a fire, which may mean somebody or some system in place to quantify if the emergency is real, otherwise the response you get i.e all lights flashing and 2/3 tenders may actually be local traffic speed and one tender, or none at all until confirmation.
This recent change in the North West area, especially for large public organisations, and where time may be a critical factor i.e care homes, schools etc is a cause for concern.

MGF