The number of people in South Lakeland injured in property fires has dramatically reduced thanks to a scheme which the county's Fire & Rescue Service hopes to expand as part of plans to put prevention on an equal footing with cure.
Since 2003, there has been a 64 per cent increase in the number of potentially life saving Home Safety Checks carried out by firefighters and community safety officers across South Lakeland. According to the latest figures, the number of people injured in property fires in the area over the same period has fallen by two thirds.
The free checks are designed to make sure people have working smoke detectors, basic fire prevention advice and a plan of how they will get out of their home in the event of a fire. Last year alone, the Fire and Rescue Service fitted 1,161 homes in South Lakeland with free smoke detectors.
Figures show that two in every three people who die in fires do so before the Fire and Rescue Service is even called - making it a priority for Cumbrian firefighters to try and make sure everyone, especially people in high risk groups, knows what to do to prevent fires from happening in the first place.
Plans published earlier this month show how Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service intends to increase investment in community fire prevention work by making sure it has the right people in the right places at the right time. The public are currently being asked for their views on the fourth annual draft Action Plan which has at its core, the Fire and Rescue Service's continued ability to respond to incidents in every part of South Lakeland within existing response targets.
Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service has organised a total of five Neighbourhood Forum meetings where people are being given the chance to quiz senior fire officers about the plan, with one in Kendal planned for Wednesday 2 August at 7:00pm.
Cumbria's Chief Fire Officer Bernard Dolan says: "Putting prevention on an equal footing with cure is already paying dividends. Smoke detectors are giving people that valuable early warning which is helping to prevent many fires from happening in the first place.
"The plan we published last month to help us save more lives by making sure we have the right people in the right places at the right time will enable us to carry out more Home Safety Checks in South Lakeland and hopefully bring the number of people injured in fires down even further.”
Notes for Editors
This year, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service has carried out 1,226 free Home Safety Checks in South Lakeland. A 64 per cent increase from 2003-04.
Over the same period the number of people injured in accidental dwelling fires fell from six in 2003/04 to two in 2005/05- a drop of 67 per cent.