South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue is urging residents to regularly test their smoke alarms and those of people they care for to prevent fire deaths, as a new look Fire Kills advertising campaign is being launched by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

The Government Fire Kills advertising campaign will run for one month from January across radio, print, digital, outdoor and social media as there is an increase in fire-related emergencies and deaths over the winter months, compared to the rest of the year.

There were more than 160 deaths from accidental fires in the home last year. By simply testing smoke alarms, many more lives could be saved.

Ads will feature friendly smoke alarms, which will tell the public to make time for their home’s ‘unsung heroes’ by testing their alarms once a month.

A working smoke alarm can buy you valuable time to get out, stay out and call 999. But just half of all householders who own a smoke alarm say that they test it’s working on a regular basis.

Our Head of Community Safety Trevor Bernard said:

“You’re four times more likely to die in a fire without a working smoke alarm, but only half of the people who own an alarm say they take the time to check it regularly. “I’d encourage people in South Yorkshire to make sure you test your smoke alarms this month and get into the habit of testing them each month as they can save you and your family’s life.”

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue have recorded 10 fatal deaths from accidental and household fires over the last 12 months.

Help keep yourself and your loved ones safe from fire by following these simple steps:

• Make sure you fit smoke alarms on every level of your home and test them monthly.
• Make testing your smoke alarm part of your household routine in 3 easy steps:
  1. Test it by pressing the button once a month
  2. Change the batteries once a year if your alarm has removable batteries
  3. Clean the alarms casing twice a year to ensure dust isn’t blocking the sensor
• Whatever happens, never remove the batteries in your smoke alarms unless you are replacing it.
• Make sure that everyone in your home knows what to do in a fire and knows your escape route.
• For more information visit the Fire Kills campaign’s Facebook page at facebook.com/firekills A working smoke alarm can buy you valuable time should the worst happen to get out, stay out and call 999.

The fire service says the latest round of government funding reductions means it expects to lose another £5 million from its annual budget over the next four years.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue has already lost more than £8 million since 2010 and has so far managed to minimize the impact of those cuts on its core emergency response service by reductions in support staff, managers and non-pay budgets.

The service has also introduced alternative ways of staffing fire stations, which has reduced costs whilst maintaining a similar level of fire cover.

But Chief Fire Officer James Courtney says the next round of cuts, announced before Christmas, mean the fire service’s ability to respond to national emergencies such as flooding and terrorism could be threatened.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue twice sent firefighters and specialist vehicles to support the national response to severe flooding in December, helping communities in Lancashire and Cumbria.

Mr Courtney said: “We already provide excellent value for money to the people of South Yorkshire with one of the leanest fire services in the country, considering the size of the area we have to cover and the risks associated with a large, urban population.

“Unfortunately, we are not being afforded the same financial protection as the police or ambulance services. I am concerned about the ways this may affect our service in the long term, including our ability to respond to national emergencies such as flooding and terrorism related incidents.

“We have already committed to protecting frontline services as far as possible, but continued sizeable cuts to our funding mean we will have to look at further ways to save money, including possible reductions in the number of immediately available fire engines, which can only have a negative effect on our ability to respond to emergencies.”

The Government announced yesterday that fire and rescue services will come under Home Office control in 2016 with the Home Secretary previously stating that she wants to follow through reforms in areas such as procurement, IT infrastructure and building management.

“We are already exploring significant collaboration opportunities with the police in a number of areas, from fleet management and sharing premises to the new joint police and fire station in Maltby, which will open later this year. We are also assisting the ambulance service in a number of areas operationally, from gaining access to properties at emergencies to jointly responding to some types of medical incidents.

“We will continue to pursue opportunities for further and more efficient working with all of our emergency service partners, but still believe the fire service has some unique skills and specialisms which must be protected,” said James.

The Chief Fire Officer has previously lobbied Government on the issue of funding and recently wrote to South Yorkshire MPs calling on them to back an Early Day Motion, which called for a halt on further fire service cuts nationally.

Firefighters have been praised for going above the call of duty to help a vulnerable resident in Sheffield this Christmas.

Central Blue watch firefighters attended a flat on Edgedale Road, Sheffield after neighbours expressed concern for the man’s safety.

After gaining access to the flat, firefighters checked on the wellbeing of the man, who lived alone, and identified a number of issues which were likely to put him at a greater risk of fire.

They returned the next day with a full roast dinner, cleared away 15 bags of rubbish which had accumulated in the man’s house and carried out a full home safety check, including the fitting of three free smoke alarms.

The resident has now been referred to the fire service’s High Risk Coordinators for further intervention work.

Group Manager Tony Carlin, said: “Everyone knows the fire service does a fantastic job attending emergency incidents, but our wider contribution to the health and wellbeing of local communities is both little known and growing.

“On this occasion, firefighters not only put in place meaningful interventions to make this man safer, they actually assisted him in ways which went above and beyond the call of duty. That’s testament to the fantastic skills and dedication of all our staff.”

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue  attends around 1,400 ‘special service’ incidents each year, including freeing people from road traffic collisions, water rescues, flooding and lift releases. The fire service also now assists other agencies, like the ambulance service, to gain access to properties at certain types of emergency.

That’s on top of the thousands of house, property and smaller fires it also attends each year.

Alcohol or drugs are responsible for double the number of house fires in the run up to Christmas than at any other time of the year, new fire service data reveals.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) tackles around a dozen accidental house fires in December where alcohol or drugs were thought to be a factor in the blaze. The average number of drugs or alcohol related fires in other months of the year is only six.

That’s why drinkers are one of the groups being targeted by the fire service as it seeks to drive down fires this winter, traditionally one of the SYFR’s busiest times of the year.

With cooking making up the majority of alcohol related fires, fire safety officers are urging people to think twice before switching on the cooker after a drink.

Spencer Rowland, Station Manager in Community Safety, said: “The busy Christmas party period is already upon us and we’re not here to stop people having a good time. But people must recognise that by cooking when you’ve been out drinking, you are automatically putting yourself at a much greater risk of fire.

“Seasonal drink drive campaigns have made getting behind the wheel of a car after a drink completely unacceptable and we think the same stigma should be attached to cooking in the home. We’ve attended far too many serious incidents where people have been under the influence of alcohol and fallen asleep with food on the hob or in the cooker, or where drink or drugs have made them uncoordinated and more likely to have an accident.”

To stay safe this Christmas, the public are reminded to:

• Never cook when under the influence of alcohol
• Never use a chip pan- oven chips or thermostat controlled fryers are much safer
• Never leave cooking unattended and switch kitchen appliances off after use

We have received several reports from local businesses which have been contacted by someone claiming to sell advertising in one of our publications.

We do not have a magazine and we would never contact businesses for advertising in this way.

If you receive a call like this, please report it to the Action Fraud website.