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Fires in Tyne and Wear reduce |
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Latest figures from Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Authority show that the number of fires in Tyne and Wear are reducing and that smoke alarms are saving lives.
In 1995 the fire and rescue service attended 35,000 incidents compared to 23,762 in 2005. Also in 1995 only four per cent of fires in the home were detected by a smoke alarm, whereas in 2005 over half were (53 per cent). Peter Gibson, Chairman of Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Authority, said: “Thanks to the hard work of our staff, increased public awareness, the installation of smoke alarms and our preventative work we are helping to provide a much safer community.”The main findings of the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Authority’s Annual Incidents (2005/06) show that:
• Primary fires have reduced by four per cent (4,978 in 2004 to 4,784 in 2005)
• Secondary fires have reduced by 4.5 per cent (8,066 in 2004 to 7,706 in 2005)
• Fatalities have reduced from eight in 2004/05 to seven in 2005/06
• Malicious fires in road vehicles have reduced by eight per cent (1,462 in 2004 to 1,342 in 2005)
• Malicious 999 calls to the fire and rescue service have decreased by 21.5 per cent (796 in 2004 to 625 in 2005)
• Misuse of equipment eg, leaving pans on the hob, toasters, microwaves, grill fires (this does not include kitchen fires) account for nearly half (46 per cent) of all fires in the home
• False alarms from automatic fire alarms have increased by eight per cent (5,771 in 2004 to 6,235 in 2005).
Peter Gibson said: “These figures are good news for Tyne and Wear and reflect the hard work of our staff.”
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