News Headlines... March 2010
To go straight to any of March's news click on the links below.
Up in Smoke | BBC FOI Sat Nav | Shobden 'Chemical' Incident | Overturned Car Rescue | Candles Start House Fire | Horse Rescue
UP IN SMOKE
Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service Urges Smokers to ‘Put it Out, Right Out’ on No-smoking day 10 March
Smokers are today (10 March) being urged to quit their habit or realise its danger, as statistics reveal that cigarettes and smoking products are the biggest killer in accidental fires in the home (CLG Fire Statistics, 2007).
Despite this shocking wake-up call, less than half (40%) of smokers are aware that smoking is the biggest cause of deaths in accidental house fires,around 43% in the West Midlands region (2009 Fire Kills Survey conducted via Opinion Matters on behalf of the Fire Kills campaign amongst a nationally representative sample of 2433 UK Adults in England).
Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service is encouraging smokers across both counties to cut out dangerous habits such as smoking in bed and to make sure they properly extinguish their cigarettes. The Service is also encouraging people to install smoke alarms on every level of the home and test them weekly.
A smoke alarm that works means you are more than twice as likely to survive an accidental house fire (CLG Fire Statistics, 2007).
Community Safety Manager, Launa Walker says:
“Without a working smoke alarm you lose valuable escape time in a fire. Just two to three breaths of the toxic smoke in a fire can render you unconscious - it affects your ability to breathe, just like drowning.”
“People need to be aware of the risks of smoking in the home and how smoking materials can very easily lead to fires. When extinguishing cigarettes smokers must make sure they ‘put it out, right out’.”
Dan Tickle, Chief Executive of the No Smoking Day Charity, says:
"Seventy per cent of smokers want to stop, but aren’t aware that there is free, local help available to them. Your local Stop Smoking Service can increase your chances of success by four times. Why not take the first step this No Smoking Day and feel fitter, healthier and safer in your home.”
For smokers not ready to kick the habit this No Smoking Day, it is important to follow these simple precautions to prevent a fire at home:
- Put it out, right out! Make sure your cigarette is fully extinguished
- Fit smoke alarm and test it weekly - a working smoke alarm can buy you valuable time to get out, stay out and call 999
- Never smoke in bed, take care when you’re tired, taking any sort of drugs or have been drinking alcohol. It’s very easy to fall asleep while your cigarette is still burning!
- Never leave lit cigarettes, cigars or pipes unattended - they can easily overbalance as they burn down
- Use a proper, heavy ashtray that can’t tip over easily and is made of a material that won’t burn.
- Close all inside doors at night - closed doors help to reduce the spread of fire, giving you more time to escape.
Ask the experts - Fire and Rescue Services in England offer FREE Home Fire Safety Checks to identify potential fire risks and offer tailored fire safety advice (with smoke alarm installation where necessary) to vulnerable groups, which can be booked by calling FREEPHONE 0800 032 1155.
For further information on fire safety visit www.direct.gov.uk/firekills
Top
BBC Freedom of Information Request on Satellite Navigation
Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service has provided a detailed and timely response to the Freedom of Information request made by the BBC earlier this year (25th January 2010). The request was for data in relation to the number of emergencies where Sat-Nav systems had misdirected Service drivers
As outlined in our response dated the19th February 2010, the Service does not use ‘Sat-Nav’ systems on fire appliances. However, our records show that in 2009, crews missed targets for attendance due to difficulties in finding the address on 54 occasions.
During 2009 the Service received 13,670 “999” calls at our Control Centre and attended 8,693 emergency Incidents (the difference between the two figures is because sometimes we have more than one 999 call for each incident). From the 8,693 incidents attended, the local attendance targets we set were not met on 54 occasions, due to difficulties in locating the incident addresses. There can be a number of explanations for crews having difficulty in locating an incident. Of the 54 occasions in 2009;
- 18 were false alarms and there was no incident to find
- 15 were chimney fires, predominantly in remote properties
- 11 were because the caller gave the wrong address
- 8 were to “primary fires” involving property
- 1 was to an incident that did not have an address location
- 1 was to an incident we attended in Shropshire
- If you call 999 please assist our Control Operators by giving a clear address. Post codes are a great help to us, but remember that in rural areas, a single post code may cover a large geographical area, so any further information on your location will be invaluable. This is especially important if your property is not visible from the road and is accessed via a remote track or long driveway.
- If you come across an emergency incident whilst driving and are unsure of the address, our Operators will try to assist you to identify your precise location, for example, by referring to landmarks, road junctions or marker post numbers on the motorway.
- If you live in a rural area, and have a house name rather than a number, and the name is not clearly visible from the road, consider waiting in a conspicuous position for the fire appliance to arrive so that you can direct crews to the scene. Obviously, we would only ask you to do so where it is safe and practical to do so.
- If you live in a very remote area, and have a Sat-Nav of your own, make a note of the 12 digit map reference number for your address and pass that to us in case of an emergency.
Mapping systems on the VMDS provides greater detail than that available on domestic Sat-Nav systems, but they also provide crews with a range of additional information including individual building plans, positions of fire hydrants and details of high risk sites.
However, the Service does not rely wholly on electronic systems to locate incidents and the VMDS does not select a route for drivers to follow as a Sat-Nav would. Crews use VMDS mapping and their local knowledge to select the most effective route to an incident taking into account the time of day, local traffic or road closures and weather information, something a Sat-Nav system alone can not do effectively.
However, despite our investment in technology and the time spent by local crews in learning “their patch”, we can only act on the location information we are provided with by the public upon receiving a 999 call.
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Shobden ‘Chemical’ Incident
At 21:21hrs on Friday February 26, 2010, Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service was called to reports of an unknown powder sprayed through the letterbox of a domestic property in Shobden, Herefordshire.
Crews from the local retained station in Leominster and Kingsland were promptly in attendance, along with supporting crews from Hereford, the Environmental Protection Unit from Stourport and Incident response unit from Hereford.
The incident was dealt with as potentially toxic with appropriate control measures put in place until the exact nature of the powder was firmly established by the county analyst. Fire and Rescue crews left the property once the area was declared safe.
Police and specialist ambulance crews were also in attendance.
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Driver and Passenger Rescued From Overturned Car
At 15:43Hrs on Friday February 26, 2010, Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service was called to reports of a road traffic incident involving an HGV and an overturned car near the Enterprise Park on the A49 Leominster, Herefordshire.
Both on-call crews from the local Fire Station in Leominster were promptly on scene.
Steve Jordan, Station Manager, Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said;
“On arrival at the scene firefighters found a passenger car that had left the road and had come to rest on its side with a man and woman medically trapped inside. Fire Service personnel had to stabilise the vehicle and remove the roof to release the occupants.”
Both occupants were passed on to ambulance personnel for medical attention and taken to hospital, one by air ambulance and the other by land ambulance.
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Candles Start House Fire
At 04:15 on Monday 1st March 2010, Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service was called to reports of a hose fire in Redditch, Worcestershire. Two fire crews from Redditch attended the incident.
The fire was discovered by the occupants and two adults and a child escaped. On arrival at the scene firefighters using breathing apparatus and hose reel to tackle the fire in the 2nd floor bedroom of the domestic property. The fire completely destroyed a double bed as well as causing other damage.
Station Manager, Ian Jallands of Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said;
“Investigations found that the fire was caused by unattended candles left in the bedroom. The fact that this building didn’t have working smoke alarms allowed the fire to develop undetected putting the occupiers at risk. Fire crews had to combat intense heat to gain access to the room.”
“Candles should always be used with a proper holder –and NEVER left unattended. And, smoke alarms should be fitted to every floor of your house and tested weekly. Fire Kills, and these occupants had a VERY lucky escape!”
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Horse Rescued From Overturned Lorry
At 16:37hrs on Sunday February 28, 2010, Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service was called to reports of a road traffic incident involving an HGV containing three passengers and a horse that had left the road and overturned in a ditch containing water on the A442 Cutnall Green, Worcestershire.
Fire fighters from the local Fire Station in Droitwich were promptly on scene, and supported by; the Environmental Protection Unit from Stourport, a crew from Bromsgrove, the Incident Support from Droitwich and the Urban Search and Rescue team (USAR), to carry out the three-hour complex rescue.
Ian Jallands, Station Manager, Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said;
“Arriving at the scene fire fighters found the lorry upside-down in a roadside ditch containing water. A horse measuring 16 hands called ‘New Series’ was trapped in the rear compartment of the lorry with a quantity of ditch water inside.”
“Both diesel and fuel oil were leaking from the vehicle and we had to use booms and absorbent pads to contain the spillage and minimise further environmental damage. With human passengers clear and the vehicle stabilised, vets partially sedated the horse whilst an exit trench was dug by the Urban Search and Rescue Team. Fire fighters then used a winch to force open the back of the lorry and the horse was led – uninjured, to the safety of a nearby field.”
One person was taken to hospital by land ambulance.
All three emergency services, vets and heavy vehicle recovery were in attendance.