South Yorkshire house fire figures drop to an all time low

Figures published by South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, show firefighters attended 472 accidental dwelling fires during the last financial year, 2019-20.

That is a 13 per cent reduction on the previous year, during which there was 542 such incidents, and a 29 per cent reduction on the 664 attended in 2010-11.

Importantly, the service says, it is the first time since records began that the amount of yearly accidental house fires has been in the 400s.

Area Manager Simon Dunker, head of the joint police and fire community safety team, said: “It goes without saying that this is excellent news and testament to the hard work of our staff over the last decade - during what has been a challenging time for the public sector.

“Every home safety check, every school visit and every safety campaign has contributed towards this reduction and we must also note the co-operation of each and every member of the public who has taken on board our safety advice.

“There’s still more to be done, though.

“The 472 accidental house fires we had last year were 472 too many and our work to make South Yorkshire safer and stronger will carry on into the next decade, and beyond, to try to reduce these incident numbers further.”

The service has also unveiled the number of home safety visits its staff have done in the last few years, with 68,000 being logged since the start of 2016, four years ago.

Fire services are required, by the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, to promote fire safety and proactively help reduce the risk their communities face.

This means undertaking things such as home safety visits and safe & well checks, visiting schools and developing partnerships with other agencies that help benefit the public.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue also prides itself on being one of the country’s leading fire and rescue services when it comes to delivering community safety campaigns.

Its recent Protect Your Pets campaign helped reduce electrical fires by 30 per cent.

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