HEREFORD & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) is urging people to take note of its ‘Get Out – Stay Out – Call 999’ advice if faced with a fire in their home or place of work.
This is advice given to school children as part of the service’s education programme but fire officers want to ensure that everyone in the community is equally aware of the message.
Sharon Jones from HWFRS’s community safety department said: “We want to make people more aware that in the event of fire, the safest option is to evacuate, call for help and let specially trained personnel from the fire service and other emergency services take charge rather than attempting to tackle the fire yourself.”
She explained that around a third of people who suffer injuries during a fire had tried to tackle the fire themselves.
She added: “Of course, an early alert to a fire in your home is just as important for avoiding injury and damage to property, and we would also like to remind people to install a smoke alarm on every floor of their home and to test each alarm is working on a weekly basis.”
She also encouraged people to plan an escape route and to make sure everyone in the house is aware of it.
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