Despite a year-on-year fall in the amount of fires attended, the chair of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority has warned that residents ‘mustn’t get complacent’.
Figures show that there were 2,124 accidental home fires in Greater Manchester between April 2012 and March 2013 – a drop of six per cent on the previous 12 months.
Statistics also reveal that there has been a 63 per cent drop in the amount of all fires including chimney fires since 2002-03.
But Councillor David Acton, Chair of GMFRA, warned that fire safety should still be taken seriously.
“Remember, we mustn’t get complacent with fire safety, a working smoke alarm is your best form of defence against a fire.
“Make sure yours are fitted correctly in your home and test them once a week.
“There are still many incidents – some very major where our firefighters rescue people.”
The year-end statistics also show that the amount of non-domestic property fires also fell by 12 per cent in that time.
Cllr Acton said: “I want to pay tribute to the vital fire prevention work our crews and staff carry out in the community every single day.
“We should be very proud of what they do to try to keep us safe.”
The amount of malicious false alarms attended by GMFRS has also fallen from 635 to 479 – a drop of 24 per cent.
Area Manager Dave Keelan, Head of Prevention for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Anyone who calls us out falsely needs to think seriously about the potential consequences of that.
“When our crews are spending time going out to incidents that don’t really exist, there could be someone who genuinely needs rescuing from a fire or the water or cutting out of a car involved in a collision.
“We’ve worked hard to reduce the numbers of malicious calls our firefighters go out to and we challenge anyone we suspect is making a false call.
“Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service will take action against anyone behaving so recklessly and we regularly work with Greater Manchester Police to help them track down and prosecute anyone involved.”
Image courtesy of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue service, with thanks.
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