When the alarm goes off, the staff at the fire station must drop everything in their hands and run to the fire truck. It is important to get dressed quickly. Photo: Mette Stensholt Schau / news On the floor around the fire truck there are small piles consisting of boots, woolen socks, trousers and jumpers. It’s just a matter of jumping into the clothes, putting on the jacket that is ready in the seat and getting out as quickly as possible. The gate opens, the blue light flashes. Often they can only turn around after a short time. – Each alarm is a unique alarm, says fire chief Arne Steinbo at the fire station in Tønsberg. Firefighter Arne Steinbo says that every call is perceived as real, even if they receive a counter notification. Photo: Mette Stensholt Schau / news They can’t tell when it’s serious. Courses, training, maintenance of equipment, rehearsals and meal breaks are abruptly interrupted. Most false reports The fire service had a total of 40,000 calls to fire, accidents and other incidents last year. The fire engine goes out for assignments in Tønsberg. Fredrik Hansen But almost 55,000 of the fire reports in 2022 were in the category “unnecessary or false”. This is shown by figures from Brannstatistikk.no. That’s a record. Most of them are so-called automatic fire alarms from institutions, hospitals, apartment complexes and others with an alarm connected directly to the fire station. Carelessness and lack of maintenance There are many reasons why automatic fire alarms are triggered without a fire starting. Cooking, renovation, work on electrical installations and much more. – We see that it is often triggered by craftsmen. Dust from construction can be enough to set off the alarm, says fire chief Per Olav Pettersen of the Vestfold intermunicipal fire service. Then it is the building owner’s routines that fail, Pettersen believes. Maintenance of the alarm system is also neglected, according to the fire service. Some buildings are repeat offenders and then the owner may be told to tighten up. Costs time and money At the fire station in Tønsberg, there is always someone at work. It is worse at stations that have to be manned by people who are called in from home or work. – It quickly costs NOK 16,000 every time they are called in, says Pettersen. Department director Johan Marius LY says all unnecessary expressions are burdensome. Photo: Anita Andersen / DSB Department director Johan Marius Ly in the Directorate for Community Security and Preparedness (DSB) says there are far too many unnecessary expressions. – It is burdensome for the crew, they drive heavy emergency vehicles in densely built-up areas and if it can delay an emergency that is happening at the same time, he says. The number of unnecessary expressions has risen in recent years and he wishes it would rather decrease. Not only negative, Fire Chief Pettersen says that they had around 1,200 such automatic alarms last year. Only 20 were real fires. Fire Chief Per Olav Pettersen hopes that there will be fewer false fire reports. Photo: H. Philip Hofgaard / news But the 20 ensured that the fire brigade arrived early and stopped what could have developed and caused a lot of damage. – So it is combined and not just negative, he says. Saved several lives last year The fire service also always responds to fire alarms that have been triggered via security alarms, says Pettersen. They are important, even if they can also be false. – We saved three to four lives last year, he says. It boils down to 760 unnecessary calls in his area, which he believes could have been avoided.
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Responds to false fire alarms 150 times a day – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
