Changes to Scottish fire service call-outs could have 'catastrophic consequences'
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There has been a warning that changes to automatic fire alarm call-outs by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service coming in this weekend could have ‘catastrophic consequences’ for businesses and public authorities.
The SFRS will stop attending such calls from Saturday (July 1) as part of measures to avoid what they describe as unnecessary 999 responses.
But one prominent Highland councillor has described the move as a Central Belt cost saving solution that will simply not work in rural areas.
Duty holders with responsibility for workplace premises will have to first ‘safely investigate’ a fire alarm before calling 999.
The brigade’s control room operators will be asking for confirmation of an actual fire, or signs of fire, before sending out the nearest fire appliances.
The looming change does not apply to sleeping premises including housing, hospitals, care homes and hotels who will continue to get an emergency response.
But from this weekend, the SFRS will stop attending automatic fire alarm call outs to commercial business and other premises such as factories, offices, shops and leisure facilities – unless a fire has been confirmed.
Bill Lobban, Highland Council convener, said: “The SFRS service will require that someone has to verify that there is actually a fire before they will come out.
Adding the caveat on premises used for sleeping, he said: “But it is in any other type of building.
“To give an example if you have a fire alarm that occurs in Grantown Grammar School the responsible officer for that building who happens to live north of Inverness will have to drive from there, check that there is a blaze when there is a fire station around the corner (from the school).
“It is a Central Belt system designed to save money which is wholly inappropriate in remote rural communities many of which we have so this could be catastrophic for many businesses, local authorities, etc.
“If this building was to go on fire and the fire alarm went off automatically then someone would have to go into the building to verify that it is on fire before the fire brigade would consider coming.
“That’s a nonsense.”
Cairngorm Business Partnership Mark Tate fears many business owners are still in the dark and could pay a heavy price.
He said: “We were not aware that this change was coming into force and we fear that many businesses who it may impact will also be unaware of the change so will not have had time to adequately prepare.
“Neither ourselves or our colleagues at Scottish Chambers of Commerce have provided or been made aware of any opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed changes.
“Businesses and community groups will have invested in equipment to protect their premises and livelihoods, particularly in rural locations where response times are inevitably slower than in more urban areas and potential impacts on businesses and communities are significant.
“We wonder what impact assessment has been undertaken on this, particularly in relation to more rural communities.”
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “In relation to unwanted fire alarm signals, the council is actively exploring solutions to the challenges this may present with current policy and arrangements.”
What are Scottish fire service chiefs saying on the controversial shake-up?
Deputy Assistant Chief Officer Iain Macleod is the head of prevention and protection at the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
He said: "We began our conversation with businesses and stakeholders about the need to change our response to automatic fire alarms in the summer of 2021.
"These conversations included discussions around what the impact of these changes could be.
"These early discussions were followed by a 12-week public consultation, and we have carried out numerous engagement events with duty holders and stakeholders since.
"To be clear, ahead of 1 July, dutyholders must ensure they train staff and put in place suitable procedures to investigate the cause of any alarm actuation to confirm if there is a fire or not. SFRS will always respond to reports of a fire or signs of fire.
"If a premises does not have a responsible person locally to investigate, this can be achieved by means of fire detection technology.
"The only premises exempt from these changes are those which offer sleeping accommodation, such as hospitals, care homes and hotels.
"However, we will, of course, continue to work with dutyholders to help them better understand their obligation."
DACO Macleod continued: "Responding to unwanted fire alarm signals results in tens of thousands of unnecessary blue light journeys in Scotland every year.
"We want to free up resources so that firefighters are available to attend real emergencies or undertake training and prevention activities in their local communities.
"It's important to note that most actuations from automatic alarm systems are false alarms often caused by cooking fumes, dust, or a lack of maintenance.
"It's further worth nothing that this approach is already embedded across a number of other UK fire and rescue services, who require a confirmed fire before they send fire appliances."
