FIRE chiefs have changed the way they respond to automatic fire alarms in a bid to cut down on unnecessary blue light journeys.

In the Wee County, there were 102 unwanted fire alarm signals (UFAS) between April 1 and September 30 last year – as highlighted in a performance report to Clackmannanshire Council earlier this April.

Since July 1, an alarm activation requires those with fire safety responsibility, known as duty holders, to investigate the cause of an alarm and only call 999 to summon the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) once a fire has been confirmed.

This approach is already embedded across several other UK fire and rescue services, who require a confirmed fire before they dispatch resources.

During the aforementioned period in Clackmannanshire, 15 unwanted alarms were received from primary schools and nurseries, while 12 came from secondary schools.

Another dozen came from residential and nursing care homes, while 13 were received from warehouses and office spaces, along with 10 from manufacturing and processing sites.

Lee Turnock, group commander for Clacks, Stirling and Fife, said a third of all incidents attended by firefighters have related to unwanted fire alarm signals.

He said: "For business premises, 97 per cent of the calls attended in response to automatic fire alarm systems are recorded as false alarms, caused by factors such as cooking fumes, dust, steam, system testing, accidental actuation and lack of maintenance.

"The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (FSA), must make provision for extinguishing fires and for protecting life and property in the event of fires.

"SFRS must also plan for dealing with calls for help when there is a fire.

"However, there is no legal duty placed upon SFRS to respond to calls originating from automatic fire alarm (AFA) systems for the purpose of establishing whether there is a fire."

The change will not apply to "sleeping premises" such as hospitals, care homes, hotels or domestic homes which will continue to receive an emergency response automatically.

Updated figures for the prevalence of false alarms will be presented to councillors in due course, but the group commander confirmed it was below the 239 target for the year.

The issue of unwanted alarms has been highlighted at council meetings by fire chiefs over the years.

The latest fire performance report to council noted that false alarms "create a significant number of unnecessary blue light journeys, placing our firefighters and communities at risk, and tying up resources that may be needed at a real emergency elsewhere".

It is underscored by the fact that in 2008, Alloa watch manager John Noble died when the fire appliance which carried him crashed near Tillicoultry – en route to a false alarm at a Wee County school.