The number of house fires in County Durham and Darlington have continued a downward trend, falling 5% from last year’s figures.
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service’s (CDDFRS) latest figures reveal that in the twelve months to April 2022, the service attended 208 house fires down from 219 in the previous twelve months, with records ten years ago showing almost 300 house fires per year.
The decrease comes as CDDFRS continues its commitment to provide residents with three times more Home Fire Safety Visits than the national average.
As part of CDDFRS’s fire prevention strategy, firefighters and the Community Risk Team offer free Home Fire Safety Visits. These visits are offered to all residents in County Durham and Darlington and may result in new smoke alarms being fitted as well as fire safety and wellbeing advice to ensure the risk of fire in the home is greatly reduced.
Follow up visits to more vulnerable residents are carried out by a specialist team of Community Risk Officers who will work continuously with residents and partners to mitigate risk in their home.
CDDFRS prides itself on delivering an impressive number of fire safety visits, in 2020 Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies and Fire and Rescue Services praised the Service for its approach to fire safety visits, noting that by using fire crews it resulted in CDDFRS carrying out around “three times the England average” compared to other fire and rescue services.
CDDFRS Chief Fire Officer Stuart Errington commented: “I am extremely proud of every member of the Service who have all played a part in bringing the number of house fires down to one of their lowest rates in a decade. From education, awareness and prevention to ensuring we have an outstanding emergency response when a house fire does occur.
“We are never complacent about the need for fire safety education with an extensive amount of work being carried out behind the scenes to target those who are at a greater risk as well as offering our Home Fire Safety Visits to everyone who lives in our service area.
“As a Service we have the community at the heart of everything we do, so a personal thank you from me to our fire crews for carrying out so many visits alongside our community risk team. Of course, I would also like to thank the public for being fire safety advocates in their own home by checking their smoke alarms and following our advice to keep themselves and their families as safe as possible.”
This news comes as the National Fire Chief Council (NFCC) launches Home Fire Safety Week which runs from 13th – 18th June, aimed at raising awareness of how the public can prevent fires in the home. For more information on how to prevent fires in your home follow @CDDFRS on social media or visit our website www.ddfire.gov.uk
If you feel you would benefit from a Home Fire Safety Visit, please email us on csenquiries@ddfire.gov.uk or phone us on 0345 223 4221
