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Fire safety visits top 100,000 in Scotland |
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Scottish Fire and Rescue Services have joined together to urge people to book a free home fire safety visit as new statistics revealed that over 100,000 homeowners across Scotland have already taken up the offer. To date, Scottish firefighters have collectively completed visits to 111,707 households across the eight Scottish regions, as part of their community visit programme and following direct requests from members of the public. Scotland continues to have the highest number of fire fatalities per capita in the UK. The number fell to 45 in 2006-07, but the lack of a working smoke alarm was a factor in around half of these incidents. Fire chiefs have reminded homeowners of the importance of checking smoke alarms on a regular basis, and encouraged Scots to take up the offer of the free home fire safety visits by texting FIRE to 61611 to arrange an appointment with their local fire and rescue service. Fire and rescue services are particularly keen to target those living alone, such as the elderly, and appealed to relatives to get in touch to arrange a visit if they were concerned. CFO Brian Sweeney, Strathclyde, and Scotland’s Community Fire Safety Champion said: “This free service is all about making Scottish homes safer places to live in, and we’re keen to stress that it is on offer to anyone who has concerns or doesn’t think their home is adequately protected from the threat of fire, particularly the elderly and vulnerable.”
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