Fire Prevention Week launched

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) has launched Fire Prevention Week on Sunday 1 May to help raise fire safety awareness and reduce the number of home fires and fire injuries as the winter months approach.

Families are being encouraged to complete an online ‘home fire safety audit’ as part of Fire Prevention Week this year. The audit tool, which has been jointly developed by FRNSW and GIO, provides an assessment of a home’s fire preparedness and what actions can be taken to reduce fire danger. As a part of the drive, Fire Stations Open Day has been organised on Saturday 7 May from 10 am to 2 pm when FRNSW stations will be open to the public.  “Winter is traditionally the worst time of year for fires in homes as people start to use heaters and other electrical appliances more,” said FRNSW Commissioner Greg Mullins.

A few things to do to prevent fires include completing the online home fire safety audit, drawing up and practising a home escape plan - if possible have two ways out of every room, ensure windows and doors can be easily opened from the inside and if keys are required they are located in the locks or are easily accessible even when the room is full of smoke, making sure photoelectric smoke alarms are installed and working, never leave cooking or open flames including candles and oil burners unattended, and never overload power points.