Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) and the NSW Rural Fire Service are marking Fire Awareness Month this month (June) by reminding people to be safe, not sorry this winter and guard against house fires.
FRNSW Commissioner Paul Baxter said firefighters were committed to reducing the risk of home fires and to protecting the irreplaceable.
“The best way to stay out of harm this winter is to take measures to prevent a fire from occurring in the first instance,” Commissioner Baxter said.
“It is vitally important for people to have a working smoke alarm in their home and to test it regularly,” he said.
Echoing the safety call, Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience, Steph Cooke said it could take as little as three minutes for a fire to take hold in a home.
“Every winter we see a spike in house fires which could have tragic and even fatal consequences,” Ms Cooke said.
“Around 20 people lose their lives in house fires every year that could have been prevented, with many more sustaining life-changing injuries,” she said.
“I am encouraging households across NSW to take simple precautions like making sure smoke alarms are working, keeping objects a metre from the heater, not leaving cooking unattended and not using outdoor heating equipment inside.”
Ms Cooke said that last year, FRNSW attended 953 residential house fires between 1 June and 31 August, “which is roughly one third of reported home fires annually.”
FRNSW’s two-page Winter Fire Safety Checklist can be accessed at this PS News link.
