Fire crews visit 300 homes

Out on the streets: Crews knocked on 270 doors in Wardleworth

Fire-fighters ditched their hosepipes for clipboards as they took to the streets and knocked on almost 300 doors as part of a “Day of Action”.

Community Fire Safety Officers, officers from the Home Improvement Agency, and volunteer interpreters from the BME Fire and Safety Education Association descended on over 270 properties in the Wardleworth area of Rochdale last week.

The purpose of this day was to raise the ownership of smoke alarms, and reduce the risk of accidental fires in the home. It also incorporated housing owned by the Regenda Group, who has joined the Fire Service in an initiative where they are funding the replacement of chip pans with deep fat fryers, in Regenda properties.

These deep fat fryers have been offered to Regenda tenants who agree to have a Home Fire Risk Assessment and qualify for a chip pan exchange.

Phil Greenwood said, “We are delighted to work in partnership with Regenda on this initiative as every year in this country chip pan fires contribute to preventable fatalities and injuries, and we hope that this helps reduce the risk of such occurrences.

"If you are unlucky enough to experience a chip pan fire in your home our advice is that you turn off the heat only if it is safe to do so, close the kitchen door, get yourself and your family out, call us out, and stay out”

Wardleworth Councillor, Councillor Ahmed said, “I think that this is a fantastic initiative as it is providing free fire safety advice and smoke alarms to some of our most vulnerable members of the community.

"It is very important to know what to do in an emergency and many residents will now have a better understanding of what they and their families should do in the event of a fire.

"I would encourage anybody living in Rochdale Borough who does not have a working smoke alarm to contact the Fire and Rescue Service on 0800 555 815 to sign up to this free service”.