Although automatic fire alarm (AFA) systems are vital technologies for informing building occupants of a fire, each year Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) responds to tens of thousands of unwanted AFA activations; equating to approximately 97% of all call-outs. The aim of this study was to estimate the economic burden of false AFA system activations by using data collected in NSW for the period 2008–2018. Costs were considered as comprising: business/government productivity losses and other related costs such as false alarm fees; injuries or fatalities sustained in collisions with a responding fire brigade vehicle; wages of FRNSW personnel and other service responders; utility costs of FRNSW; and opportunity costs to the fire brigade, residents and bystanders. This study found that in 2018/19 false AFA system activations resulted in an average economic cost of AUD$246 million per annum to NSW society in a best-case scenario, and AUD$349 million per annum in a base-case scenario; equating to an average cost of between AUD$4952 and AUD$7403 per system initiated false alarm incident. The economic cost of these unwarranted call-outs is prohibitively high and this study indicates the importance of further initiatives geared toward safely reducing the frequency of false AFA system activations.

尽管自动火警 (AFA) 系统是通知建筑物住户发生火灾的重要技术，但新南威尔士州消防和救援 (FRNSW) 每年都会响应数万次不需要的 AFA 激活；相当于所有呼叫的大约 97%。本研究的目的是通过使用在新南威尔士州收集的 2008-2018 年期间的数据来估计虚假 AFA 系统激活的经济负担。成本被认为包括：企业/政府生产力损失和其他相关成本，例如误报费；在与响应的消防队车辆相撞中受伤或死亡；FRNSW 人员和其他服务响应人员的工资；FRNSW 的公用事业成本；以及消防队、居民和旁观者的机会成本。该研究发现，在 2018/19 年度，错误的 AFA 系统激活导致新南威尔士州社会在最佳情况下的平均经济成本为每年 2.46 亿澳元，在基本情况下为每年 3.49 亿澳元；相当于每个系统启动的误报事件的平均成本在 4952 澳元到 7403 澳元之间。这些无根据的呼叫的经济成本高得令人望而却步，这项研究表明了旨在安全地减少错误 AFA 系统激活频率的进一步举措的重要性。