Ennis Town Council & Clare County Council Launch ‘Fire Safety In The Home’ Initiative as County Fire

Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council this week launched a Fire Safety Initiative aimed at making householders more aware of fire safety routines and potential fire hazards. The 'Fire Safety In The Home' initiative is being rolled out on a pilot basis and will initially involve 70 households in RAPID designated areas across the County Capital.

Mayor of Clare Councillor Flan Garvey stated, "The initiative is part of ongoing efforts by Clare Local Authorities to improve the overall Fire Safety in the home. Sadly, the number of incidences of fire in Clare remains unacceptably high, which is why I would encourage householders to use their own initiative to learn and do more about fire prevention in the home."

The launch of the new scheme coincides with the release of new figures indicating an alarming rise in the number of incidences attended by the County Fire and Rescue Service in 2006. Approximately 1288 emergency calls were made to the County Fire and Rescue Service last year, representing a 12% increase on figures for 2005.

The number of incidences reported to the Fire and Rescue Service so far this year indicates that the trend is set to continue with 599 incidences attended by the Service up to and including 31st May.

According to Adrian Kelly, Chief Fire Officer, County Fire and Rescue Service, "The most significant elements of statistics from recent years include the significant increase in attendance at road traffic incidences over the 5-year period by almost 300%, the continued high rate of chimney fires and the almost doubling of motor vehicle fires. False alarms have remained constant over the last 3 years, but still remain high, with resources continuing to be deployed unnecessarily."

Meanwhile, the 'Fire Safety In The Home' initiative launched in Ennis will involve house visits by Fire Service personnel to raise awareness of fire safety and fire prevention measures to be taken by householders. The pilot initiative will focus on approximately 70 houses in the McHugh Villas and Turnpike areas of the town. Where necessary, smoke detectors will be provided by the Fire & Rescue Service. In addition to the raising of fire safety awareness, it is also intended that Ennis Town Council will coordinate the cleaning of chimneys in the houses selected for the pilot programme.

"The objective is to carry out this initiative during the summer months and to reduce the incidence of chimney fires in these areas during the autumn and early winter, which is a peak time of year for chimney fires", stated Eddie Power, Ennis Town Clerk.

Mr. Power continued, "This initiative will result in greater awareness of fire hazards in the home with a reduction in the risk of injury/loss of life and should minimise property damage from fire related incidents. This initiative will have a positive impact on use of resources of the Fire and Rescue Service in Ennis Town and should lead to further enhancement of quality of life for local residents."

A total of 569 emergency calls were made to Ennis Fire Station in 2006, representing a 20% jump on figures for 2005. A total of 232 calls were made to Ennis Fire Station during the period 1st Jan to 31st May 2007. The breakdown of calls made to other stations around Clare during 2006 is as follows: Kilkee (80 up 43% on 2005), Shannon (238 up 3% on 2005), Ennistymon (132 up 6% on 2005), Scariff (71 up 6% on 2005), Killaloe (72 up 6% on 2005), and Kilrush (126 down 5.5% on 2005).

The calls made countywide during 2006 break down into the following incident types: Chimney Fire (263 up 12% on 2002), Domestic Fire (91 up 12% on 2002), Fire On Other Premises (53 up 23% on 2002), Road Traffic Accidents (217 up 289% on 2002), Aircraft (13 up 18% on 2002), Other Rescues (14 down 12.5% on 2002), Outdoor Fires (264 up 197% on 2002), Motor Vehicle Fires (101 up 74% on 2002), Miscellaneous (79 down 53% on 2002), False Alarms – Malicious (88 down 59% on 2002), and False Alarms - Good Intent (96 down 28% on 2002)

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:
Adrian Kelly, Chief Fire Officer, Clare County Fire & Rescue Service and/or Eddie Power, Ennis Town Clerk are available for interview and/or further comment. Please contact Mark Dunphy of Dunphy Public Relations on 086-8534900 or email media@dunphypr.com.


Mark Dunphy
Dunphy Public Relations
Clonboula,
Connolly,
Ennis,
County Clare
IRELAND
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