Barnet fire stations attended 5,127 incidents in the past year, a decrease of approximately 300 from the previous year. This reduction in incidents is partly attributed to a new policy for responding to Automatic Fire Alarms (AFAs), which has decreased attendance at false alarms. This allows the London Fire Brigade to dedicate more time to prevention and protection work.
The new AFA policy means that the London Fire Brigade will not attend automatic fire alarms in non-residential commercial buildings, such as office blocks or industrial premises between the hours of 0700 and 2030.
However, they will continue to send a response to all calls received from a person calling to confirm a fire.
Crucially, all automatic fire alarms in all residential buildings and in schools, nurseries, hospitals, care homes, heritage sites and other exempt premises* - and during the night in all buildings
will still receive a response.
Due to the reduction in AFA responses, the London Fire Brigade is now able to spend more time on operational training and delivering prevention and protection work to the most vulnerable in our communities.
This includes an increase in fire protection work undertaken by operational fire station staff, rising from 3% to 4% across London. In Finchley, an initiative targeting premises with mixed use, such as residential properties above shops, has begun and may be rolled out across the borough if successful.
*Exempt premises include schools, nurseries, hospitals, care homes, and heritage sites.
