Hospitals fill the top 10 of the worst culprits for calling firefighters out to false alarms, according to London Fire Brigade.
St George’s in Tooting was the biggest offender with 169 false alarms last year, about one every other day. A further eight hospitals had more than 100 unnecessary call-outs over the year.
A spokesman for the fire brigade said the majority were caused by faulty or badly-maintained fire alarm systems and triggered by minor things including toast, steam or cigarette smoke. The 10 hospitals accounted for 1,189 false alarm calls to the service last year, which is more than three a day.
A fire engine is called to a false alarm every 12 minutes in the capital, costing an estimated
£34 million each year. Nationwide, the problem is estimated to cost about £1 billion a year.
More than a third of emergency calls are false alarms. Last year there were with 40,839 and over 27,000 were to commercial or public buildings. The London Fire Brigade said the calls impact on its ability to attend real incidents, its training and community safety work. It urged the owners and managers of buildings to improve their alarm systems.
