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

Jun 7 2009 by Jonny Greatrex, Sunday Mercury

“Sometimes first year students are away from home for the first time and it is very easy for them to forget certain things set-off the smoke alarms,” he told the Sunday Mercury. As a Students’ Union we do everything we can to educate students during their induction about the risks.

“One of our officers has worked with the Fire Brigade to create a safety calendar where every month shows a different hazard.

“Our accommodation officers are also very good at getting people to realise the potential risks.”

And he denied members of his union had been involved in prank calls, he added: “I don’t think our students would be those kind of people.

“I think it could be false activations but sometimes students let people they don’t know into our halls of residence.

Just because the call came to some of our flats doesn’t mean it was made by our students.”

The university also says it has taken steps to reduce the unnecessary call-outs. A spokesman said: “We have an extremely good relationship with West Midlands Fire Service.

“In 2004 we set-up regular meetings with them to review the number of activations in our halls of residence and agree ways in which both organisations could work together to reduce the number of call-outs.

“This partnership approach has resulted in a number of initiatives such as the Fire Services involvement in the induction process for students, investment in mechanical aids to reduce activations, articles highlighting the danger of fire published in the Students Union magazine.”

A West Midlands Fire Service says the fake emergencies do not just waste money but can costs.

“Every time we attend a false alarm or a hoax call it puts lives at risk and wastes money.

“For every hour an appliance is out with a full crew it works costs £328.

“The biggest problem for us is that it diverts valuable resources away from possible life-threatening situations.”