Scores of false fire alarms linked to failing school infrastructure

King's College had 24 false alarms. File photo / NZ Herald

High schools are tying up emergency services with thousands of false alarms each year - and the Fire Service has had enough.

King's College, which had 24 false callouts in the past 12 months, was the worst offender. It was followed by Te Puke High School and Marlborough Boys College with 16 each.

The University of Auckland had 71 false alarms across its Tamaki, Grafton and City campuses.

Figures released under the Official Information Act showed the Fire Service attended 2312 unnecessary callouts at schools and education institutes in the 12 months to March.

Senior fire risk management officer George Stephens said it was a huge concern to the service because crews tied up at false alarms could not attend genuine emergencies.

"It's not uncommon. If there's a fire alarm at a Ponsonby school, crews from Ponsonby and probably Auckland City would go.

"That area then has a depleted service and if a real fire happens around the corner, they'd have to call in the Balmoral or Parnell crew," Stephens said.

Regular false alarms bred dangerous complacency among students and teachers, he said.

Stephens said most false alarms were caused by poorly maintained systems, particularly in older buildings which were not bound by the new standards.

"A lot of schools have alarms that are not fit for the purpose. They are really just burglar alarms with a few smoke detectors."

A $1000 fee, intended to encourage schools to fix systems, was waived for the first two callouts in a year and at the service's discretion. Around $200,000 in bills was currently outstanding.

King's College headmaster Bradley Fenner said the school had ageing infrastructure and problems with faults in its alarm system.

"We're working on things. Each of the callouts has had a different reason," Fenner said. "We don't mean to cause the Fire Service any extra work."

The school averaged two false alarms a month in the past year.

Fire Service data indicated around 10 were from students cooking in the boarding houses.

Te Puke High School and Takapuna Grammar School were flagged as having maintenance issues by the Fire Service but did not return calls.

Fire Service records indicate around half the callouts to the University of Auckland were caused during renovations.

The university said the false alarms were linked to construction projects across its campuses and false alarms were inevitable.

Worst offenders

24 King's College

16 Te Puke High School

16 Marlborough Boys College

11 St Pauls Collegiate Hamilton

11 Hamilton Girls High School

8 Takapuna Grammar School