Firefighters across South Yorkshire are urging people to be more careful with electrical goods, as part of a new safety campaign intent on reducing local house fires.

The county’s fire service says that it has attended over 300 house fires in the last three years, where electrics have been to blame, making it one of the leading causes of accidental dwelling fire in the county.

And with the use of things like e-scooters and e-cigarettes on the rise, and the increased availability of cheaper, imitation electrical goods online, officers are concerned that they could see more such fires going forward.

They say that whilst house fires generally are continuing to drop, electrical fires – caused by things such as white goods, phone chargers and dodgy wiring – are still not going away.

“We’re proud of the work we’ve done over the last decade to massively reduce house fires across South Yorkshire, but our figures suggest electrical fires are still a big issue for us,” said Area Manager Matt Gillatt, head of the joint fire and police community safety team.

“As well as being a leading cause of house fire generally, we are very conscious that thousands of electrical items are sold each day to people across the county. Be it washing machines or tumble dryers, e-cigs or e-scooters, phone chargers or computer tablets, electrical goods are everywhere.

“We are also conscious that people are busier than ever, and as the cost of living continues to rise, people’s priorities may change when it comes to fire safety. That’s why we’ve launched this latest campaign – we want people to try and take a little bit extra care when it comes to electrics.”

The service is asking people to do some specific things in order to reduce their risk of having an electrical fire.

Firstly, firefighters are asking that people ensure their white goods – such as washing machines, fridges and tumble dryers – are registered. This ensures that they will be notified if there are any potential issues or recalls with that product.

Secondly, people are being asked to avoid leaving washers and dryers on at night or when they are out. Lots of incidents attended by fire crews across South Yorkshire have started when an appliance has malfunctioned with nobody there to turn it off prior to a fire starting.

Residents are also urged not to buy fake electrical goods, however cheap they might be, and not to overload plug sockets and extension leads – most of which can only take 13 amps which is the equivalent of one kettle.

“It’s really important to stress that we don’t just want people to be safe so that we can reduce our incident numbers,” added Matt.

“House fires, regardless of the cause, can be absolutely devastating from a financial perspective – and they can really disrupt your life.

Even at the incidents where nobody is harmed, generally people end up displaced as they either can’t use, access or safely live in their damaged home anymore.”

For more information on home and electrical fire safety, and to book a home safety check from local crews, visit www.syfire.gov.uk.

The Prohibition Notice on Wicker Riverside Apartments has today been lifted, following the installation of a new alarm system.

All residents are now allowed back into the building and will be able to enjoy Christmas in their own homes.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Tony Carlin said; “I would like to thank all the residents and the responsible person who have worked so well with our Fire Safety Inspectors and Sheffield City Council to enable the Prohibition Notice to be lifted in such a short amount of time.

“We are pleased that residents will now be able to spend Christmas in their own homes.”

The amount of house fires in South Yorkshire is the lowest it has been for 10 years, the county’s fire service has revealed.

Figures published by South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue today, Wednesday 10 June, show that firefighters attended 472 accidental dwelling fires during the last financial year – 2019/20.

That is a 13 percent reduction on the previous year – 2018/19 – during which there was 542 such incidents, and is a 29 percent reduction on the 664 attended in 2010/11.

Importantly, the fire service says, it is the first time since records began that the amount of yearly accidental house fires has been in the 400s.

“It goes without saying that this is excellent news and testament to the hard work of our staff over the last decade – during what has been a challenging time for the public sector,” said Area Manager Simon Dunker, head of the joint police and fire community safety team.

“Every home safety check, every school visit and every safety campaign has contributed towards this reduction and we must also note the co-operation of each and every member of the public who has taken on board our safety advice.

“There’s still more to be done, though. The 472 accidental house fires we had last year were 472 too many and our work to make South Yorkshire safer and stronger will carry on into the next decade, and beyond, to try and reduce these incident numbers further.”

The service has also unveiled the number of home safety visits its staff have done in the last few years, with 68,000 being logged since the start of 2016, four years ago.

Fire services are required, by the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, to promote fire safety and proactively help reduce the risk their communities face.

This means undertaking things such as home safety visits and safe & well checks, visiting schools and developing partnerships with other agencies that help benefit the public.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue also prides itself on being one of the country’s leading fire and rescue services when it comes to delivering community safety campaigns.

Its recent Protect Your Pets campaign helped reduce electrical fires by 30 percent – whilst the Do Your Bit campaign drove down deliberate fires set during the summer months.

A South Yorkshire teen has started an apprenticeship with a major Sheffield manufacturing firm, thanks to a fire and police led youth course.

Jay Woodhead, aged 17, from Wybourn, Sheffield started work at William Cook Cast Products after completing Princes Trust Team Programme- a 12 week development course that’s jointly run by South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue and South Yorkshire Police.

Jay will be employed in the moulding section and will travel to Birmingham once a month to fulfil his training obligations.

Jay said: “If it wasn’t for the Team Programme I would still be sat in my bedroom wondering why no-one was offering me a job. This has focussed my job search and the impact has been proven by the number of positive responses I have received since. I am really looking forward to starting my new apprenticeship and would like to thank everyone for the help getting here.”

He’s the second course participant to have secured employment at William Cook, after Joe Rodgers earned a role as an apprentice pattern maker. He’d previously spent a fortnight on work experience at the firm- walking an hour and a half to get to work each day.

Joe, aged 22, from Parson Cross, Sheffield, had been long term unemployed. He said: “Team Programme really helped me improve myself for the better. It improved my prospects and gave me a clear path to a job that I am loving. I never saw myself in this role and instead thought I would work in retail. My time on work experience really opened my eyes to the jobs available. I would like to thank John, Andy and all the team at The Prince’s Trust and Kevan at William Cook for the opportunity of work experience that led to this role.”

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue and South Yorkshire Police teamed up with the Prince’s Trust to deliver the Team Programme three years ago. During that time more than 200 young people have benefited from the 12 week personal development course for unemployed 16 – 25 year olds, offering work experience, qualifications, practical skills, community projects and a residential week.

The courses are based at fire stations and are the only programmes of their type in the country to be jointly delivered by fire and police services. For more information or to sign-up, email princestrust@syfire.gov.uk

Young people are learning life and social skills thanks to a fire service funded project.

In partnership with JADE Youth and Community Centre, we are helping hundreds of young people with activities that enable social, educational, economic and employment opportunities for their life progression.

The JADE Youth and Community Centre, based in Dinnington, Rotherham, has been partly funded by the South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority’s funding scheme, Stronger Safer Communities Reserve.

The two year funded project, has been running for over a year and has seen great success with children from as young as 7 years old benefiting from the activities, projects and educational talks delivered.

JADE offers a safe and fun environment for young people to socialise and attend sessions covering fire safety, road traffic collisions and road safety, anti-social behaviour, drugs and alcohol.

Head of the Joint Community Safety Department Steve Helps said; “JADE has made a real impact on the lives of the young people who attend, offering a place to socialise and also to learn life values with the help of the amazing youth workers there who offer support and advice.”

A spokesperson from JADE said; “We really appreciate the support received from South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) , the funding provided has enabled us to deliver much needed activities for children, young people and the wider community, creating a wide range of positive outcomes that support young people and address key community safety issues.

“Through our SYFR funded project, young people have taken part in educational activities that cover a diverse range of issues such as fire, road and water safety, drug and alcohol use and crime and offending, whilst being in a safe environment where they can socialise, access support and have fun.”

A fire service funded project in South Yorkshire is helping to prevent trips and falls in older people in their homes.

The Edlington Community Organisation, in partnership with South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) has been inviting older people (50+) to bring along their old slippers and exchange them for a new safer slip-resistant pair for free.

The two year slipper swap project aims to be used in conjunction with information events to encourage the elderly and vulnerable into community venues to access other support focusing on fall prevention, Safe and Well checks and dementia awareness.

Since the start of slipper swap over 1,000 pairs of slippers have been given out along with 200 fire safety kits and 70 Safe & Well referrals.

Donations of all old slippers are re-donated to local Lions Clubs and community clothing banks who pass them on to other groups most in need within England or third world countries

The Edlington Community Organisation were awarded £39,000 for the project under the South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority’s funding scheme, Stronger Safer Communities Reserve.

SYFR Head of Prevention & Protection Steve Helps said; “The project so far has been really successful with a large number of Safe & Well referrals generated which has strengthened our knowledge and referral scheme through collaborative working with our partner agencies.

“It has also made it possible for older people in the community to live safer and be more prepared for living in their own homes in the future.”

Samantha Siddall at Edlington Community Organisation said; “A pair of slip resistant, fitted slippers not only stops you from falling but also reduces the pressure on emergency services and ensures older people remain independent and active. The free slippers are also a great way to get people into other services and accessing a variety of information and advice within their community.”