Hundreds of people received fire safety advice and thousands of homes were visited in the first official Fire Safety Week to be staged by Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service.
For the first time ever all staff at Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service headed into communities across Merseyside with operational firefighters to help reduce the risk of fire in people’s homes as part of the Fire Safety Week.
The week saw 90 staff in office roles at Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service headquarters, volunteer to accompany advocates, fire crews and members of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority on visits to 4,619 properties in one day to highlight fire safety and the importance of having working smoke alarms.
A total of 1,398 Home Fire Safety Checks were completed across Merseyside as part of the week.
Deep fat fryers were also distributed as part of a “chip pan amnesty” during the week and free oil-filled radiators were given to those with unsafe heating.
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service Deputy Chief Fire Officer Phil Garrigan said: “We are pleased with the impact our first Fire Safety Week has had and we will continue to build on this annual event to raise awareness even further. I would like to thank all those staff from across our Service and the Fire Authority who contributed to the Week.
“Although our firefighters, fire protection officers and prevention staff carry out work in the community to help improve fire safety and reduce the risks throughout the year, we wanted to highlight our safety messages as widely as possible, particularly as winter approaches.
“Every week we see examples where smoke alarms have activated and given people the vital time they need to escape a fire. Early detection of a fire can also allow us to limit fire damage to a property by stopping the fire from spreading and limit the detrimental impact fire can have on communities.”
More than 200 older people attended special events during the week and 22 schools to promote key fire safety
The Fire Safety Week comes as recent figures show that a third of houses which had fires attended by Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service since 2010 did not have a smoke alarm at the property.
Out of 5,569 house fires attended by firefighters between January 1, 2010 and September 16 this year there were no smoke alarms in 2,098, or 37.7%, of all the properties during the period. In total 52 properties which had a fire during the period had smoke alarms but the battery had been removed, including 22 in Liverpool, and in 36 cases across Merseyside the smoke detector had been removed.
For free fire safety advice contact 0800 731 5958.
Pictured: Deputy Chief Fire Officer Phil Garrigan,( front centre), holding a smoke alarm withArea Manager Myles Platt, who leads the Protection and Prevention Department at Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service and is holding a home fire safety leaflet, and staff who took part in the week.(Picture Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service )
