Aston Park fire station had a special visitor recently when Pollyanna Pickering, acclaimed as one of Europe’s foremost wildlife artists paid a visit.

Pollyanna and her daughter Anna-Louise Pickering had bought a firefighter experience day at an Age UK auction held at Aston Hall Hotel last autumn. Pollyanna was at the auction as part of her role as a Patron of Rotherham’s Gallery Town Art Project.

The firefighters at South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s Aston Park fire station were delighted to welcome the well known artist to the station. The day included a tour of the station and a look at the fire engines and all the equipment on board, along with trying on the firefighters uniform and wearing the breathing apparatus.

Pollyanna is the most published artist in the UK, her work sells in over 80 countries worldwide and is patron of the Wildlife Art Society International.

Pollyanna Pickering said; “It was absolutely fascinating to see behind the scenes at a working fire station and I was so impressed by the skill, bravery and dedication of the whole team.”

Station Manager Paul Bragger said; “It was a pleasure to meet Pollyanna and Anna-Louise and show them around our station and give them an insight in to the day to day running of a fire station. Fire stations remain important parts of local communities so beyond our core emergency response and prevention work, it’s important to be able to give members of the public an insight into our work.”

A fire service funded scheme to educate thousands of mums-to-be about home safety has been recognized with two top awards.

The ‘Barnsley Babies’ initiative won the Governor’s Award and Partnership Working Award at Barnsley Hospital’s Heart Awards, which celebrate the hard work and dedication of Barnsley Hospital staff and volunteers.

Following a recent successful trial in the Barnsley area, maternity units across South Yorkshire now hand out specially designed thermometers to expectant parents.

As well as telling parents when their baby’s room is at the correct temperature, the devices also display important messages about topics including home fire safety and smoke free homes. Cigarettes are a major cause of house fires and smoking in pregnancy is known to increase the risk of miscarriage, still and premature birth and other complications.

The project was awarded £23,500 under South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority’s funding scheme, the Stronger Safer Communities Reserve.

Joanne Poskitt, Specialist Midwife in Drug and Alcohol Use at Barnsley Hospital, said: “We work closely with the fire service already as it is well documented that there are links between a smoking home and sudden infant death or meningitis.

“The thermometers are a practical and simple tool which will help parents provide a safe sleeping environment for baby, information on creating a smoke free home and offer the opportunity for a free home safety check. We have already been handing out the thermometers in Barnsley and is now being extended to the whole of South Yorkshire.”

A grateful Barnsley resident has thanked the fire service after smoke alarms they fitted alerted her to a blaze in her neighbour’s home.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue carried out a Home Safety Check at Susan Hey’s home on Crompton Avenue, Barnsley, fitting smoke alarms upstairs and downstairs in the property, as well as offering safety advice around common causes of fires.

Two months later, at approximately 5am, the smoke alarms awoke Susan and alerted her to a fire in an adjoining property. She was able to call 999 who advised her to leave the property, whilst crews arrived to investigate. Luckily there were no injuries and there was no fire damage to her home.

Susan Hey said “South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue offer a fantastic service- there’s no excuse not to have working smoke alarms fitted. The firefighters who came round to fit my smoke alarms were so lovely and polite – it really doesn’t take long at all. Had I not had them fitted, the outcome of this whole situation could have been very different. I haven’t stopped telling all my friends about the importance of having a working smoke alarm and testing them weekly.”

Station Manager in Community Safety, Spencer Rowland said: “This is a great example of prevention work at its best –smoke alarms allow for early detection of fires before they have devastating effects. But smoke alarms can only raise the alarm if they are working, so it’s vitally important people test them regularly to give them the peace of mind that they are ready in case the worst does happen.”

For more information on fire safety check out the rest of our website or for free reminders to test your smoke alarms visit pressthebutton.co.uk.

A major new partnership to help tackle dementia related house fires in South Yorkshire has officially launched.

The South Yorkshire Dementia Action Alliances won funding from South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority’s funding scheme, the Stronger Safer Communities Reserve. The money is being used to support the ‘Dementia Fire and Home Safety Project’.

Under the scheme, coordinators in each of South Yorkshire’s four districts will promote fire safety to a range of organisations working with people living with dementia and their carers, in a bid to reduce the risk of fire and the associated consequences.

Part of the co-ordinators’ role includes promoting the fire service’s home safety check service, whereby trained fire service staff visit people’s homes and talk to them about preventing fires and other accidents and fit smoke alarms where needed. They will also encourage organisations to sign up to South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s ‘Safe and Well’ partnership.

The project will also work with the fire service on a safety campaign specifically targeting those living with dementia and their carers, including a number of roadshows across the county.

More than 15,000 people across South Yorkshire have been diagnosed with dementia – with thousands more thought to be undiagnosed.  Dementia is known to be a major factor involved in accidental house fires and fire related injuries and deaths.

Officers believe the project will benefit the fire service by providing a vital link with one of its key target groups in terms of vulnerability to fire.

Area Manager Steve Helps, said: “In the last decade, the fire service has helped to make South Yorkshire safer than it has been at any time in its history in terms of house fires and fire related deaths and injuries. But we believe we can play a much wider role in terms of tackling some of the big health challenges our country faces in the future”.

“This project is the perfect illustration of that aspiration, where we use the coordinated efforts and expertise of those at the frontline of dementia care to improve the lives of one of the most vulnerable groups in society.”

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue is also a member of the Yorkshire & Humber Dementia Alliance, which is committed to tackling the growing issue of dementia within our communities.

Hundreds of its staff have also signed up to become Dementia Friends – a Government backed initiative which teaches people a little bit more about what it’s like to live with dementia, and then turns that understanding into action.

The Stronger Safer Communities Reserve fund saw dozens of registered charities, community organisations and partner agencies come forward and apply for grants from the £2 million fund, which had been set aside from the Authority’s reserves.

Groups were able to bid for as little as £5,000 or as much as £150,000 to support projects which reduce injuries, save lives and make South Yorkshire safer. Key objectives for the fund include prioritising the most vulnerable, collaboration and data sharing.

South Yorkshire Dementia Action Alliance won £149,000 to support the project over two years.

A charity scheme is helping to improve the quality of private rented accommodation for residents in Barnsley.

Groundwork is a Barnsley charity which aims to improve accommodation in deprived communities and to improve the health and well being of residents.

The scheme was awarded £63,500 under the South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority’s funding scheme, Stronger Safer Communities Reserve.

The project will employ two full time staff who will visit residents in private rented accommodation offering advice and support on safety issues within their home. As well as offering improvements to the energy efficiency of the properties, Groundwork will also check smoke alarms and fire blankets in kitchens, where appropriate, to help minimise and maintain the safety in the home now and in the future.

Phil Hayes at Groundwork said; “The funding received from South Yorkshire Fire Authority makes this project, which is in partnership with the Safer Community Team at Barnsley Council, possible and will ensure that Barnsley residents are safer and more prepared for an emergency in their home”.

SYFR Head of Prevention & Protection Steve Helps said: “Engaging with residents in their own home is one of the best ways to offer home safety advice. Working together with charities and other public agencies on initiatives like this is one of the best ways we can reach those most at risk of fire and helps us deliver our safety messages to residents in private rented accommodation.”

The Stronger Safer Communities Reserve saw dozens of registered charities, community organisations and partner agencies come forward and apply for grants from the £2 million fund, which had been set aside from the Authority’s reserves. Groups were able to bid for as little as £5,000 or as much as £150,000 to support projects which reduce injuries, save lives and make South Yorkshire safer.

Firefighters have taken part in a major training exercise in Sheffield to test their response to an incident involving the city’s tram network.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue worked with Stagecoach Supertram on the live training scenario, which involved a casualty being trapped under one of the vehicles.

Herdings Park tram stop was closed for several hours for the exercise, which also involved paramedics from Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

Station manager Darren Perrot, said: “We’d like to thank the public for their understanding in allowing us to close a small part of the tram network in Sheffield for a few hours so we could complete this important training exercise. We’re also extremely grateful to Stagecoach Supertram for making the exercise as realistic as possible and providing some vital technical input on the day.

“Our firefighters are ready to respond to a huge number of different incident types, from fires to road traffic collisions. We issue lots of guidance to our crews about the different sorts of scenarios they might come across in the line of duty, but really the best way of preparing our response is to test it out for real.”

Katie Arthur, Safety Manager for Stagecoach Supertram said, “We are grateful to our passengers for their patience during this operation that involved staff, both at depot and on site working with colleagues from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue.  Safety is always our number one priority and exercises like these are vital in enabling us to test our emergency responses and gain crucial experience of working with our emergency service partners.”