Archived decisions

OPERATIONAL ACTIVITY STATISTICS 2001/02

1. The Authority has received a report of the Chief Fire Officer on the level of operational activity during 2001/02. The operational activity has a direct impact on resources both in terms of the deployment of personnel and in the use of vehicles and equipment. The total number of incidents attended was 26,087, an increase of 12% on the previous year. There was an increase of 8% in the number of property fires. This is part of a general rise in all types of fire (+16% since 1990/91). Calls for "special services" such as chemical incidents, lift rescues and animal rescues saw a significant decline from 3,334 to 2,700 (19%). This fall is due in part to fewer serious flooding problems compared with the previous year.

2. False alarms of "good intent" totalled 2,633 - a slight increase of 241 on the previous year. These incidents are not viewed as a major problem as the public are encouraged to call the fire service if in any doubt about the possibility of a fire or other incident. Despite the continued efforts to reduce the upward trend in the number of calls to automatic fire alarms, last year showed an increase of 2% on the 2000/01 figure. From April, 2002, the top 20 worst offenders were visited by Technical Safety Officers on a regular basis in order to reduce the number of repeat calls. For the third consecutive year, there has been an increase in malicious (hoax) fire calls received by the service. To seek to address this a new initiative has been introduced in Hampshire which will involve messages being sent to mobile phones used to make malicious calls stating the use of the phone will be cancelled by the service provider.

3. After the recent years of constant call rates, 2001/02 saw a sharp rise in Road Traffic Accidents (RTA's). Such incidents increased by 8% on the previous year and despite the year on year fluctuations RTA's have risen by 18% since 1990/91. To seek to address this upward trend, work is being done on both the County Council's and the Service's Geographical Information Systems to try and identify accident "blackspots" within the county.

4IR331002