No smoke without fire

Moving to university is a rite of passage for so many young people. At last – a space away from parents, to socialise with housemates in a communal kitchen and eat nothing but beans for an entire term. But living away from home and cooking unsupervised comes with risk, and this danger is something that Avon Fire & Rescue Service (AF&RS) are taking seriously as the latest influx of freshers moves into their student accommodation.

“Our campaign is about reducing the number of false alarms that the fire service responds to, and raising the issue of fire safety amongst students to prevent fires,” explains Steve Quinton, group manager in charge of risk reduction at AF&RS. “Alarms can go off for various reasons – through malicious activation, smoking in rooms and so on – but distraction while cooking is a big issue for us. As it is often students’ first time away from home, making sure they are responsible for themselves and those around them is important.”

Firefighters were called to 53 false alarms at student accommodation in Bristol between March 2016 and April 2017, taking crews away from other potential emergencies.

The first day of a FireSkills course hosted by Avonmouth Green Watch at their station. The course involved Year 9 students from the Gateway School in Lawrence Weston.

“That is a comparatively high figure,” Steve says. “False alarms make up a high proportion of the work of the crews at Temple and Bedminster. With student accommodation, always go unless someone calls to say there isn’t a fire.”

In October 2015, much of Bristol city centre was choked in thick smoke as a fire that had started in a kitchen ripped through the roof of the University of Bristol’s Colston Street residence. Steve was the fire investigation officer in charge of finding out how the blaze, which burned for a day and a half, originally started. At its height, more than 40 firefighters tackled the fire, including crews brought in from Gloucestershire. Over 120 students had to be evacuated from their homes and the road was closed for weeks while the building was made structurally sound.

“That was from unattended cooking,” Steve says. “The poor young chap put his cooking on stove and then took a phone call, so he went to his room and forgot about his food until the alarm went off. It’s a prime example of what unattended cooking can cause – not just the fire, but the disruption to residents.”

Temple fire station, off Victoria Street, is one of the Bristol stations most affected by false alams

The University of Bristol and UWE both work with AF&RS, who inspect and audit systems in university-owned buildings. Both universities say they carry out termly drills and inform all students of emergency procedures.

To avoid unnecessary call-outs, an internal investigation is conducted each time a fire alarm goes off in one of UWE’s buildings, says Vivienne Jowett, head of accommodation services. “For obvious reasons, the alarms are quite sensitive, and they can go off if someone with an en-suite room keeps the door open when they have a shower. So, we have a period of time where we strive to investigate and silence the alarm, before the fire brigade are called out. We’re not just calling them out left, right and centre.”

Despite these efforts, false-alarm call-out rates remain high for Steve’s teams in Bristol. “Halls are often very well kitted out, but the aim is to avoid the alarm going off in the first place,” he concludes. “Don’t leave candles unattended, if you get a phone call when you’re cooking then don’t walk away and leave a pan on the hob, and if you’ve had a few drinks, don’t cook – get a kebab.”