Volunteer pilot scheme to help victims of fire extended

Volunteer pilot scheme to help victims of fire extended to all areas of Greater Manchester

A pilot scheme that uses the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service volunteers to help victims of fire and other emergencies restore their lives has been extended to all boroughs of the county.

The innovative scheme helps those who find their lives disrupted by an emergency by giving them support to clean up their homes and cope with the devastating aftermath.

The volunteer Post Incident Team (PIT) was being piloted in Wigan, Bolton and Manchester and, despite, only being launched in May, it has now been extended to all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester.

The trial was proving extremely successful and, even before the trial was extended, the Post Incident Team provided support to the residents of Shaw in the aftermath of the explosion at the end of June.

PIT volunteers worked with firefighters to reunite residents with their pets and items urgently needed from their homes while the community was evacuated from the area.

Councillor David Acton, Chair of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, said: "Launching this team was a huge step for us as we don't underestimate the distress and disruption a fire or any other emergency can cause anyone in our community when it affects their home.

"It's fantastic that our volunteers have been doing such valuable work in our communities in such a short space of time and that we've been able to extend this pilot scheme to the whole of Greater Manchester.

"The team provides practical support by helping victims get their home back to normal as quickly as possible and, hopefully, put them on the road to getting over their ordeal that little bit sooner.

"It's not something we have been able to do in the past with the resources we had available and is only possible because of our growing team of volunteers, who are adding to the work our staff and firefighters do."

The Post Incident Team is able to help clean up inside the homes of people who have suffered a fire and remove and dispose of damaged property.

Teams of three cover shifts between 8am and 8pm most days and they are called on by the Incident Commander, who has dealt with the incident, if the people involved decide they would like help.

Because the team is made up entirely from GMFRS volunteers and existing equipment, including a van, has been used to set the team up, there has been virtually no costs involved in launching the pilot.

Wigan, Bolton and Manchester were chosen to pilot the scheme because of the high concentration of volunteers in those boroughs at the time the scheme was being developed - meaning that those involved were most likely to be helping people in their own communities.

However, growing numbers of volunteers have meant that the scheme can now be piloted in all boroughs.

To read more about the work the PIT team did with firefighters at the scene of the Shaw gas explosion, visit:

www.manchesterfire.gov.uk/updates/news/27june2012_volunteers_reunite_shaw_families_with_pets.asp

To find out more about becoming a volunteer for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, visit:

 www.manchesterfire.gov.uk/working_for_us/become_a_volunteer.aspx