London’s fire brigade has stepped up its efforts to highlight the number of calls it receives to free people from trapped lifts by using posting details of incidents on Twitter.
The Brigade has already reduced the number of free attendances it provides to councils and businesses before it imposes a £260 callout fee. As of last month the fee will be levied from the third incident at a property within a twelve month period.
Officials say since charging was imposed in 2009 the level of calls to free trapped lift passengers has fallen 3,640.
Cllr Susan Hall, Chairman of London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority’s Community Safety Committee, said: “Since we began tackling unnecessary lift calls outs, we have freed up resources equivalent to £1 million.
“We are totally serious about cracking down even further on people who waste our time. Firefighters need to be available to attend real emergencies where it is a matter of life and death.”
In 2009 LEFPA Chairman Brian Coleman said property owners needed “to make proper provisions for their lifts” and not rely on the Brigade to provide cover although he stressed firefighters would “always attend genuine emergencies where people are shut in lifts and other means of rescue are not available.”
