An Asda store located in Telford, Shropshire, was evacuated at the weekend after an in-store oven triggered the fire alarm. 

Shoppers were asked to leave the store and the Fire Service was called, but it was quickly established that it was a false alarm. 

Shropshire Fire & Rescue confirmed that a fire engine was called to the scene at 3.49pm after the fire alarms had been triggered by heat from an oven.

An Asda spokesperson told local reporters: "The fire alarm was triggered, but we were back up and running within 20 minutes. The store was evacuated as a precaution."

As part of on-going attempts to highlight the costs associated with false fire alarms, The FIA has produced an infographic detailing the extent of the problem. There is also a leaflet with lots of advice for businesses  on how to reduce false alarms and save money at the same time.

The FIA says: “It is estimated that false alarms cost the UK in excess of £1 billion a year. They must be stamped out! Even one is one too many. We are on a mission to stamp out false alarms and we need your help.

“Most fire alarm and detection systems don’t cause false alarms; it’s the mismanagement of them that does and this is where they can really cost you money due to lost production, disruption due to staff evacuation, unnecessary release of retained firefighters, possible future charging for attendance by fire and rescue services, as well as increased insurance premiums.”

Commercial buildings, non-domestic and multi-occupancy premises in England and Wales are already forced to undertake a 'suitable and sufficient' fire risk assessment carried out under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

While the overwhelming majority of premises do this, if the assessment is thought to have been carried out to an insufficient extent, the Responsible Person can face an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison.

Original source: The Shropshire Star