Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service called out to record number of false alarms

Across England, the number of false fire alarms continues to rise, with the Fire Brigade Union urging businesses to maintain their fire alarms to prevent them being triggered in error.

Recent Home Office data shows the Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service attended 3,280 false fire alarms in the year to September – up from 3,178 the year before and the highest since at least 2010.

Of the alarms, 2,529 were caused by a fire alarm or firefighting equipment activating in error. Meanwhile, 626 were "good intent", meaning someone triggers a fire alarm, believing there is a real fire threat even though there isn't.

A further 125 were "malicious". These are deliberate false fire alarms, often termed as hoaxes.

Nationally, fire and rescue services attended 254,041 false alarms, the largest figure since the year ending September 2011.

The majority (183,115) were a result of faulty alarms, a 5% increase from the previous year. In contrast, the number of "good intent" and "malicious" false alarms both fell.

Steve Wright, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said: "Firefighters attend automatic fire alarms to prevent fires from spreading in buildings while they are unoccupied."

He added fire services do not knowingly send firefighters to false alarms, as they can only investigate whether there is a fire once they have mobilised.

"Fire crews are trained in detecting and tackling fires in their early stages, protecting properties and lives," he said.

"Businesses must maintain their alarms to prevent them from being accidentally triggered.

"Fire services must be provided with the resources needed to respond to alarms, so that fires can be tackled before they become life threatening."

The Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service attended 7,799 fire and non-fire incidents last year, a marginal increase from 7,751 the year before.

Of the incidents last year, 1,654 were fire incidents (21%).

Earlier this week five fire engines and crews from the service were sent to a blaze reported in a basement in Aylesbury where three people were rescued.