Fire Service Offers Advice Ahead Of 'Home Fire Safety Week'

Sunday, 11 June 2023 06:00

The scorched bathroom door (left). The other side of the door remained completely intact (right).

West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service is urging residents to reduce their risk of a fire in their homes during the lead up to Home Fire Safety Week.

Closing internal doors when you leave the house or go to sleep can prevent the spread of fire and toxic fumes by up to 20 minutes – as demonstrated recently at a fire in East Grinstead.

On May 27 firefighters from Crawley and East Grinstead responded to a fire at property in Wilderwick Road, with the support of East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service.

Upon arrival crews were met with a large fire in the bathroom which firefighters were able to quickly extinguish due to the quick thinking of the occupier.

When the resident was alerted to the fire, he quickly closed the bathroom door and safely evacuated the building, which contained the fire to one room and stopped it from spreading further.

Nicki Peddle, Head of Prevention at West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, said:

“It can be difficult to navigate the hidden fire risks in your home and work out how best to prevent fires from taking place. Perhaps you have a mirror near a window, or maybe you’ve bought a phone charger from an online marketplace – the risks in your home can be vast.

“We have an online home fire safety check tool available to help people work through the risks in their properties and understand what changes can be made to stop a fire from happening in the first place.

"However, the best pieces of advice I can give is to make sure you have working smoke alarms in your property, and in the event of a fire – get out, stay out and call 999.

“In this incident, the occupiers actions saved priceless possessions, his home and gave him time to reach a place of safety to call 999.”

The National Fire Chief Council’s Home Fire Safety Week will run between Monday 12 and Sunday 18 June. During this week, WSFRS will be sharing a number of home fire safety tips on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

For more information on home fire safety, or to request a free Safe & Well Visit, please visit our website.