Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

Cornwall County Fire Brigade at 18/09/2

It’s 2.30am. You awake suddenly. An acrid smell fills your nostrils. It restricts your breathing and starts you coughing. You reach to turn on a light. The electricity has gone off. You’re in pitch darkness and unable to find your way out. You can’t find the door let alone your kids. Your home is filled with thick black smoke. There’s a fire and you’re trapped.

Would you know what to do should fire start in your home?

Cornwall Fire Brigade will join with Fire Brigades across the country next week to launch a new campaign to encourage people to make a Fire Escape Plan so they so they know what to do in the event of fire .

The campaign, ‘Make your plan. Get out alive, “, which will be launched nationally on Wednesday, September 18th, stresses the need for every household to have a Fire Action Plan. The plan should include identifying all practical escape routes, installing smoke alarms and regularly conducting your own fire drill.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Ken Thompson , of Cornwall Fire Brigade, said “Over 400 people are killed and 12,500 are injured in fires in the UK each year. “

“Making a Fire Action Plan and thinking about how you would escape from your home can increase your chances of surviving a house fire. By making a plan and installing a smoke alarm you can save yourself valuable time and escape before it is too late.”
Star of BBC1’s “Changing Rooms’ Linda Barker, is also supporting the campaign. “People spend so much time and effort thinking about how to make their homes attractive which is great. “she said. “But I’d also urge them to think about fire safety, make a fire action plan, fit a smoke alarm and always take care when using candles.”

The Fire Action Plan campaign is supported by the following partners; Argos, Axa, Currys, Ei Electronics, Help the Aged, Homebase and Woolworths.

Fire Brigade officers advise that a Fire Action Plan should include all the following:
· Identify all practical escape routes and keep them clear;
· Take everyone into account when making your plan;
· Keep door and window keys where you can all find them;
· Know when it’s safer to stay put;
· Practice your Fire Action Plan;
· Make sure everyone knows your Fire Action Plan

Cornwall Fire Brigade is also taking the opportunity to remind people of the importance of having a working smoke alarm. “On average, 270 of the people killed in fires each year didn’t have a smoke alarm” said Ken Thompson. “Excuses kill! Fit a smoke alarm and check it regularly. Over the last five years, more than 70 people have been killed every year because their smoke alarms didn’t work – usually because the battery was flat or missing.”

Other fire safety messages the Brigade will be emphasising next week include :
· Take care when cooking with hot oil. Why not use thermostatically controlled deep fat fryers – they’re safer.
· Take care in the kitchen! Accidents whilst cooking account for 59% of fires in the home
· Never leave lit candles unattended
· Put it out, right out: ensure cigarettes are stubbed out and disposed of carefully
· Never smoke in bed
· Keep matches and lighters away from children
· Keep clothing away from heating appliances
· Take special care when you are tired or when you've been drinking. Half of all deaths in domestic fires happen between 10pm and 8am.

Related item: http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/fire/fsafety/fs01d.htm