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07
Aug
Firefighters set to stop responding to nearly all commercial fire alarms
A Harrogate business group has expressed concerns about North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s plan to stop responding to virtually all fire alarms on commercial premises.
County firefighters recently stopped responding to automatic fire alarms between 7am and 7pm at commercial premises where people do not sleep unless a fire has been confirmed.
The fire service has now proposed extending this to 24 hours in its Community Risk Management Plan 2025 to 2029, which outlines how it will deploy resources to deal with risks.
The plan says the service will make exceptions for fire alarm call-outs at 'specific high-risk premises' — but also warns it could charge for repeat false alarm calls.
The plan, which is open to consultation until September 7, says automatic fire alarms accounted for 43% of the 7,827 incidents the fire service attended from April 2024 to March 2025. Of those, 97% turned out to be false alarms.
It says “reducing the burden of responding to unwanted fire signals will allow us to focus on the delivery of our range of services and increase efficiency”.
The Stray Ferret asked Martin Mann, chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce to respoond to the proposal.
Mr Mann said he was concerned about how firefighters would identify whether an alarm was due to a real fire or a false alarm without attending. He also questioned what would be classed as ‘high-risk premises', adding:
We have all seen the fires in various restaurants in Harrogate over the years — Pranzo on Albert Street being the most recent, which went on to affect a number of residential properties quite quickly. How would the automatic fire alarm at this commercial property have been dealt with under the proposed rules? Would they wait for a phone call to say smoke had been spotted?
Harrogate Fire Station on Skipton Road
Mr Mann also questioned how the proposal would affect commercial property insurance, especially for out-of-town and rural storage facilities. “Will an automatic fire alarm be ignored until a call is received confirming a fire is present? That delay could in some cases cause a huge amount of loss for the businesses affected,” he said.
Explaining the move, the plan says:
Our attendance at these incidents uses valuable time and resource, diverting our operational crews from prevention and risk reduction activities and other more critical incident types. There is no legal duty on fire and rescue authorities to respond to calls originating from automatic fire alarms systems to establish if there is a fire.
Reducing the burden of responding to unwanted fire signals will allow us to focus on the delivery of our range of services and increase efficiency.
Crews will be more available to respond to other incidents where our services are required. It will bring our policy in line with neighbouring fire and rescue services’ attendance at automatic fire alarms. It will reduce fuel and call out costs and have a positive environmental impact through a reduction in CO2.
Water bowser faces axe
The plan also proposes “reviewing staffing and crewing arrangements” and getting rid of one of the county’s two water bowsers.
The service plans to retain its bowser at Boroughbridge but not replacing the one at Tadcaster when it reaches the end of its operational life, which would save £500,000.
Bowsers are deployed when large volumes of water are needed and water supply may be limited, such as rural areas, remote properties, or wildfires.
Each bowser holds up to 9,000 litres of water and includes a dam for an additional 8,000 litres. From 2018 to 2023, the bowsers attended 176 incidents, an average of 35 calls a year.
The plan says:
Water bowsers have limitations, once the water has been supplied it can take a considerable time to replenish the water before it can return to the incident. Also, due to the size of the vehicle, access to remote off-road locations can be a challenge.
We recognise that wildfires and climate-related emergencies are expected to become more common. Instead of just replacing our old vehicles, we’re using this chance to improve how we respond by investing in new technology: We’re learning from other fire services that use special connectors (couplings) and are working in partnership with farmers unions to be able to access large water supplies on farms and other buildings we also have off-road vehicles that can carry portable firefighting equipment to harder to reach incidents.
Jonathan Dyson, chief fire officer at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue.
Chief fire officer Jonathan Dyson said:
We’re committed to making sure our plans reflect the needs and priorities of the communities we serve. This consultation is a great chance for you to help shape how we manage risk and deliver services over the next four years.
I warmly encourage everyone to take a few minutes to share their views through the survey.
You can take part in the consultation here.
After the consultation closes, responses will be reviewed and a report with recommendations will be prepared for Labour mayor David Skaith and his deputy Jo Coles. The final Community Risk Management Plan will be published on the service’s website following their decision.
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