Firefighters issue smoke alarm warning!
Firefighters in Atherstone are urging residents to make sure that they have a working smoke alarm after attending three incidents where the batteries were either taken out of the alarm or there was no alarm installed.
The first incident was on the 12 November on Coleshill Road. A fuse box set alight and the resident took the battery out of the smoke alarm thinking it was a false alarm, only then to realise that the room was beginning to fill with smoke.
The second incident involved an elderly resident who had no smoke alarm fitted and was altered by smoke issuing from her tumble dryer. The third incident was a chip pan fire on Witherley Road on the 17 November, where again the resident had taken the battery out of his smoke alarm and therefore didn’t get the early warning which could have reduced the fire damage to his home.
Station Manager, Sean Yeates said:
“We are becoming increasingly concerned that someone will lose their life in north Warwickshire if people don’t take having a smoke alarm installed more seriously. All to often we are attending incidents where smoke alarms are either present and have no batteries in or where there is no smoke alarm at all. It may seem like it will never happen to you, but fire can happen anywhere and to anyone and the only way that you will live to tell the tale is if you have a working smoke alarm to give you early warning of a fire in your home.”
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service provide free Home Fire Safety Checks to homes across Warwickshire. To find out whether you are eligible please contact 01926 466282 or log onto: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/hfsc
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For further information please contact Sean Yeates on 01827 713451 or Lisa Mowe on 01926 412513.