Detector raises the alarm

Susan Hey, of Crompton Road in Barnsley, was woken at 5am recently after her smoke alarm was triggered by a fire at her neighbour’s house.

Mrs Hey called 999 who advised her to leave the property immediately until fire crews arrived to investigate. Luckily there were no injuries and there was no fire damage to her home. Mrs Hey had only had the fire alarms fitted upstairs and downstairs in her property two months earlier, following a Home Safety Check by South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue.

She said: “South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue offer a fantastic service - there’s no excuse not to have working smoke alarms fitted.

“The firefighters who came round to fit my smoke alarms were so lovely and polite and it really doesn’t take long at all. Had I not had them fitted, the outcome of this whole situation could have been very different.

“I haven’t stopped telling all my friends about the importance of having a working smoke alarm and testing them weekly.”

The fire service also spent time talking to Mrs Hey about the common causes of fires and offered her some fire safety advice.

Station Manager in Community Safety, Spencer Rowland, said: “This is a great example of prevention work at its best. Smoke alarms allow for early detection of fires before they have devastating effects, but smoke alarms can only raise the alarm if they are working. It’s vitally important that people test them regularly to give them the peace of mind, so that they are ready in case the worst does happen.”

Visit www.syfire.gov.uk for details.