A performance report to be presented to the county’s Fire Authority also shows a reduction in the number of accidental house fires across South Yorkshire.

Figures show there were 139 fire-related injuries between April 2007 and March 2008, compared with 239 during the same period in the previous year.

There were 16.6 accidental house fires per 10,000 houses between 2007 and 2008, compared to 17.7 in the previous year.

The news comes after the Service recently revealed a drop in the number of deliberately started vehicle fires across the county.

Head of Prevention & Protection at South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Bob Rowland said: “Our community safety teams and firefighters are out every day carrying out home fire safety checks, fitting free smoke alarms and delivering fire safety advice to reduce the number, and severity, of fires in the home. It is extremely encouraging that this type of work, along with a number of our prevention initiatives, is making a real difference. We will continue to work hard to further improve the safety of people in our communities.”
 
The 2007-08 Performance Statistics will be presented to the South Yorkshire Fire Authority on Monday July 28th.

You can arrange for South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue to carry out a Home Fire Safety Risk Assessment and fit free smoke alarms if required by calling 0114 253 2314

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For more information please contact Corporate Communications on 0114 253 2415