Fire Service calls on residents to act quickly when hearing smoke alarms
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service would like to thank residents across the county for acting quickly when hearing their neighbours’ smoke alarms going off over the weekend.
On Saturday evening alone, the Service was called to six incidents where smoke alarms alerted neighbours to a fire nearby.
Thankfully, four were false alarms but there were two fires in Parkeston and Clacton. In both cases, the residents were not home and their neighbours had called the Fire Service.
Watch Manager Becky Sutton, in the Service’s Control Room said: “We’d really like to thank the neighbours who called in these incidents and highlight how important it is to have working smoke alarms at home.
“If you’re not home, your neighbours or passers by will hear the smoke alarms going off and can call us in an emergency.
“Please do not delay in calling us if you hear smoke alarms going off nearby. Sometimes we have callers say they were not sure if someone else had called or they were not sure if there actually is a fire.
“We would rather be called and find out it is a false alarm or deal with multiple calls to an incident than not be alerted to a fire.”
Watch Manager Craig Todd from Clacton Fire Station attended the bungalow fire in Clacton on Saturday evening where two dogs were rescued.
He said: “Working smoke alarms alerted neighbours to this fire, which obviously saved the house from burning down and saved the lives of the two dogs inside. We'd like to thank and praise the quick thinking neighbours who called us.
“We’d like to remind everyone to make sure you have working smoke alarms on every level of your home and that you regularly test and inspect them. Not only will they alert you to a fire when you are at home but they can alert your neighbours and passers by when you are not home.
“If you or someone you know doesn’t have working smoke alarms at home, please get in touch with our home fire safety team for advice. You can get in touch online at essex-fire.gov.uk/book or by calling 0300 303 0088.”
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service offers free home fire safety visits for Essex residents who are worried about fire risks in their home.
The team will visit properties across Essex when requested or referred to assess individual fire risks in a person’s home and to offer advice to minimise the risk of a house fire.
You can contact the team online at essex-fire.gov.uk/book or by calling 0300 303 0088.
Page last updated 4 October, 2021