£700,000 cost of fire hoax calls

Crews throughout Wales attended hundreds of hoax calls

Hoax calls being made to the Welsh fire services have reduced for a third year in a row but the problem is still costing nearly £700,000 a year.

The three services, North, South and Mid and West Wales, have all reported a drop in the number of calls being made which are deliberate false alarms.

On average the North and South Wales services received 16 to 18 hoax calls weekly compared with 21 to 22 in 2003.

Fire chiefs said the problem of hoax calls could cost lives.

The South Wales Fire Service is the biggest in Wales with 50 fire stations and covers the cities of Cardiff and Newport.

HOAX CALLS ATTENDED In 2003 North Wales 392 Mid & West: 677 South Wales: 1147 In 2004 North Wales: 302 Mid & West: 711 South Wales: 1112 In 2005 North Wales: 256 Mid & West: 543 South Wales: 936

Although the problem of hoax calls has reduced, fire crews in south Wales still attended 936 deliberate false alarms in the last year.

Using the Home Office's 'economic cost of fire' research, where two appliances attend hoax calls at £200 each per hour, the problem cost the South Wales service an average of £374,000 last year.

Mid and West Wales lost £217,000 last year by attending 543 hoax call outs, according to figures obtained by the BBC News website.

It is a similar story in north Wales, where the cost of hoax calls in the last year was calculated at £102,400 when crews were dispatched to 256 deliberate false alarms.

Paul Claydon, assistant chief fire officer for North Wales Fire Service said: "Hoax calls not only waste the time and resources of the fire service - they could also potentially cost lives.

We had one man who called us seven times and in one call the operator had to give him fire survival guidance because he said he was trapped in a fire Jennie Griffiths, South Wales Fire Service

"We are working to reduce the volume of hoax calls, and also on challenging callers while they are on the line."

Control room staff in the south Wales region are using specialist equipment which can identify where the call is being made from and how many times an emergency call has been made from it.

Jennie Griffiths, principal fire control officer said the situation was frustrating for staff.

"Only the other night, we had one man who called us seven times and in one call the operator had to give him fire survival guidance because he said he was trapped in a fire," she said.

"We've had hoax calls about chemical spillages which need specialist resources.

"I don't know why people make malicious calls but it really affects the community they live in when they do."