CORNWALL Fire and Rescue Service has been called out to over 5,000 false fire alarms over the past five years, a new investigation has revealed.

Figures obtained by Personal Injury Claims UK revealed that the service has visited 5,504 false fire alarms since April 2019, causing a strain both financially and on the use of resources.

The data also shows that the number of annual visits by the service has been between 1,000 and 1,300 over a five-year period, which is around three incidents a day.

From 2019 to 2020, the service attended 1019 false fire alarms, which was the lowest number of visits over the past five years.

A year later, this number increased to 1041 despite the restrictions and lockdowns during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the restrictions were lifted, the number of false fire alarm callouts increased to 1089 in 2022/23.

Over the past year, the service has experienced another rise in false alarm calls, with the total standing at 1296 in 2023/24.

Some common causes of false fire alarms include:

  • Faulty or poorly designed equipment
  • Poorly trained users
  • Lack of maintenance
  • Fumes from cooking or burnt food
  • Steam from showers
  • Dust from building or repair work
  • Aerosols used near sensors.

With the number of callouts impacting the service every year, Cornwall Fire and Rescue have explained the impact false alarms have on the service.

A statement written on the service’s website said: “The impact of responding to false alarms is a drain on our resources and a distraction from real emergency calls and other community services.

“False alarms also have a significant impact on the effectiveness of your fire evacuation strategy and may put lives at risk.

“If a genuine fire alarm is ignored (for example, because people mistake it for yet another false alarm), this can lead to death, injury and extensive damage.”

Across the country, false fire alarms continue to be the largest proportion of incidents attended at 38 per cent.

They prove to be costly and disruptive, amounting to around £1-billion a year for the UK, according to a study by BRE Group.

If the trend continues, false alarms could pose an ongoing risk to individuals' safety as well as affect the efficiency of emergency services.