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.