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Around 53 lives have been saved over two years thanks to home visits by
firefighters to mainly vulnerable households, according to a new report
published today.
The Home Fire Risk Safety Check programme funded by the Communities
and Local Government department began in 2004, and the interim report
by Greenstreet Berman examines outcomes during the first two years. The
programme entails visits by firefighters to people’s homes to alert
them to the risks of a potential fire, to check various risks around
the home, and to fit smoke alarms if they are needed.
The report, Evaluation of the Home Fire Risk Check and Fire
Prevention Grant Programmes, shows that in the first two years, the
safety checks have coincided with a 57% reduction in lives lost by
fires, a reduction in those injured by 888, and a reduction of 13,760
in the number of fires in people’s homes.
“This has been a ground breaking initiative, reaching vulnerable
groups at risk of fire such as the elderly, single parents and smokers,
significantly reducing fire deaths and injuries,” said fire minister
Sadiq Khan. “But no one must be complacent. The FRS [fire and rescue
service] are not, and are going to continue with these checks.”
The main findings of the report are:
- a moderate correlation between the reduction in the number of dwelling fires and the rate of alarms installed
- the impact of alarm installation was greater where the installation was more targeted by risk
- some fire and rescue services had been conducting home fire safety
checks before the government programme, so in some cases improvements
could not accurately be measured
- most fire and rescue services had developed partnerships with other
agencies to effectively identify and target vulnerable people
The researchers recommended the continuation of home fire risk
checks with the provision of free, 10-year sealed smoke alarms.
However, a more consistent approach to household fire risk assessment
should be developed and applied by fire and rescue services, and good
practice should be more readily shared.
The report highlights what it considers innovative work by Cheshire,
Cleveland, Greater Manchester, Kent, Merseyside, Nottingham and South
Yorkshire fire and rescue services. The work often involves joining up
with other agencies such as Age Concern, the local health service,
supermarkets and youth services.
CLG estimates that based on the research findings, the prevention
work has resulted in an economic benefit of between GB pound 926m and GB pound 1,943m.