The fire brigade is taking to steps to cut the number of false alarms attended by its crews.
East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, which covers Brighton and Hove, said that last year it attended 12,607 emergency callouts.
About half of these turned out to be false alarms, with almost seven in ten of those a result of fire alarms.
Now the service is asking 999 mobilising and communications centre teams to challenge automated fire system emergency calls.
The new “call questioning” is designed to reduce the number of false alarms and prevent firefighters being sent on unnecessary blue-light journeys.
Those 999 callers who report fire alarms will be questioned.
If the caller confirms that the triggered alarm is not due to a fire, but caused by fumes from cooking, steam, cigarette smoke, aerosol use or dust then a crew will not be sent.
If there is any doubt, the fire service will treat the call as an emergency.
