Firefighters called out to Birmingham Uni digs 450 times for 13 blazes

Jun 7 2009 by Jonny Greatrex, Sunday Mercury

FIREFIGHTERS have been called out to student digs at a Midland university nearly three times a week to deal with false alarms.

West Midlands Fire Service say they have attended Birmingham City University accommodation more than 450 times in the past three years – to tackle just 13 blazes.

And the number of times firefighters have been called out to the higher education unit includes 28 prank calls. The cost of the false alarms to the fire service could be as high as £100,000, according to Government figures.

Fumes from students’ hairspray and incense sticks are just two of the items which are initialising smoke-detectors automatically linked to the nearest fire station.

The whopping figures were uncovered following a Freedom of Information request by the Sunday Mercury to Birmingham City University.

It showed that between September 2006 and May 2009 West Midlands Fire Service responded to 464 call-outs to the institution’s halls of residence, which are spread around the city.

Of those 148 were caused by people cooking, 62 by having a crafty cigarette and 39 by hair and beauty equipment, such as curling tongs.

The accommodation is mostly used by first-year scholars who are new to the challenges of independent living.

Last night the Birmingham City University Students’ Union president Oz Hetherington defended the freshers.