Don’t Get Trapped In A Lift
Among other changes being proposed in its draft Strategy Plan (see adjacent columns), East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service is seeking to “manage demand” in three operational areas: releases from malfunctioning lifts, liberation of trapped birds, and responses to automatic fire alarms (AFAs).
As regards lifts, the Plan confirms that “we will continue to attend calls to release members of the public from lifts when appropriate and necessary”. However it also proposes “a delay in responding to some incidents where people are not vulnerable or in distress, to give the building owner time to resolve the issue themselves in line with their responsibilities”; and a fee may be charged for attending such calls.
Liberating trapped birds by the use of aerial ladder platforms and other specialist equipment is described as “disproportionally time-consuming and expensive”. No attendances may be offered in future.
As for AFAs, the Plan states that, across the county, 96% of such calls to the Service turn out to be false alarms, many leading to unnecessary mobilisation which both wastes resources and damages firefighter morale. In future, such calls from premises such as offices, shops, factories, pubs, clubs and restaurants that risk no casualties caught asleep are likely to be ignored until actual checks have been made and fire confirmed on 999.
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