Isle of Man Fire service call outs and Risk Assessments

Summary

The request sought fire service call-out statistics for the last three years and risk assessments for converted living accommodation at Douglas Fire Station. The authority provided total call-out numbers for all stations and aggregate automated fire alarm data, but refused specific time-based breakdowns due to excessive cost and stated that the risk assessment documents were not held.

Key Facts

• Total call-outs for Douglas Fire Station between 2017 and 2019 were 2,474.
• The authority refused to provide call-out data specifically between 9pm and 6am due to the manual effort required exceeding 40 hours.
• There were 2,185 total calls to Automated Fire Alarms across all stations between 2017 and 2019.
• The requested Risk Assessment for Douglas Fire Station as a converted building was not held by the authority.
• The response was issued on 4 February 2020 under reference number 1150426.

Data Disclosed

• 2474
• 159
• 411
• 144
• 252
• 225
• 345
• 2185
• 40 hours
• 2017
• 2019
• 2020-01-27
• 2020-02-04
• 1150426

Exemptions Cited

• Section 8(3)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act 2016 (practical refusal due to excessive cost/time)
• Information not held

Original Request

Please can You provide the following information 1) The number of call outs for each fire station on the Isle of Man for the last 3 years. 2) How call outs has Douglas Fire Station recieved between 9pm and 6am over the last 3 years and how many were automated fire alarms. 3) please can you provide a copy of the Risk Assessment or any other documentation, that allows Douglas Fire Station to be used as 'converted building' building or part of the building consisting of living accommodation. In which one or more units is used for accommodation. That have been created since the building or part was constructed and do they comply with Fire Regulations.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Chief Executive's Office DHA Headquarters Tromode, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM2 5AP

Telephone: (01624) 694313 Fax: (01624) 621298 Web address: www.gov.im/dha Email: GeneralEnquiries.DHA@dha.gov.im

Our ref: 1150426 4 February 2020

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 27 January 2020.

Please can You provide the following information 1) The number of call outs for each fire station on the Isle of Man for the last 3 years. Station Total Calls between 2017 and 2019 Douglas 2474 Laxey 159 Ramsey 411 Kirk Michael 144 Peel 252 Port Erin 225 Castletown 345 2) How (many) call outs has Douglas Fire Station received between 9pm and 6am over the last 3 years and how many were automated fire alarms. While the information you have requested in part 2 of your request is held for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2016 (“the Act”), this information is captured manually on individual log sheets.
It would require an officer to manually check each sheet, identifying both the time of the incident and then whether the qualifying incident was for an automated fire alarm.
There are 2474 identified records. Taking a very conservative estimate of 1 minute per record, this would take an officer over 40 hours or more than a working week. In addition, as the information is captured manually it would require substantial compilation or collation to bring it together to answer the question as requested. For that reason, the Department believes a partial practical refusal based on section 8(3)(c) of the Act is justified.

We have provided you with all Automatic Fire Alarm (AFA) calls to ALL stations over the past three years. There were 2185 calls in total to AFAs between 2017 – 2019.
This comprises non-fire, mechanical, malicious, and accidental. 3) please can you provide a copy of the Risk Assessment or any other documentation, that allows Douglas Fire Station to be used as 'converted building' building or part of the building consisting of living accommodation. In which one or more units is used for accommodation. That have been created since the building or part was constructed and do they comply with Fire Regulations." Not held. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find some of the information that you have requested. Records held manually Please quote the reference number 1150426 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours faithfully