Zero deaths in accidental house fires in Cheshire

For the first time in its history Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service has had zero deaths in accidental house fires during its annual reporting period, in this case from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019.

This outstanding result is attributed to the commitment of all of the service’s staff in working to keep the county’s communities safe and to the residents of Cheshire themselves.

Chief Fire Officer Mark Cashin said: “This service works really hard to keep people safe. Since we first commenced home fire safety visits nearly twenty years ago we have visited hundreds of thousands of householders to provide home fire safety advice, currently our Firefighters and Prevention staff complete over forty thousand visits per year.

“This success is also, however, about the effectiveness of our emergency response and credit must also go to our Firefighters who, over the 12 month period, have effected numerous rescues from house fires across Cheshire, Halton and Warrington. The whole service has played its part in this success.”

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service advises that most house fires are preventable, which is why it will continue its commitment to high quality prevention and protection as well as emergency response. This success realises the service’s long held belief that it is much better to save lives by equipping people with the knowledge and skills they need to stop a fire from occurring in the first place than wait until disaster strikes and tackle a potential life threatening blaze.

CFO Mark Cashin concluded “While we are delighted with this result it is essential we are not complacent and I hope that members of the public continue to think safety first and apply their knowledge to keeping themselves and their families safe from fire.”

About Lucy Thorpe