Fire-related injuries on the increase

THE number of deaths and injuries caused by fires in South Wales has increased for the second year in a row, according to South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFR).

SWFR Authority published the details in its latest Improvement Plan, which stated the total number of deaths and injuries sustained in fires over the last year has jumped from 85 to 92.

The report works to explain the positive and negative changes the service encountered between April 2016 and March 2017.

During this time SWFR attended over 17,300 incidents and the total number of fires attended in South Wales decreased from 6,578 to 5,798 within the same period.

There was also a reduction in the total number of false alarms attended with the figure dropping from 8,323 to 8,191.

Looking ahead to 2018, fire officers are now focusing on investigating as to why the injury toll could have increased.

The Improvement Plan also showed how SWFR services compared with similar fire services across the UK.

It revealed that, when compared with other services, SWFR had the third highest number of reported malicious false alarms, but this amount has also reduced by 23%.

Officers also attended the second highest number of road traffic collisions last year but the team saw an improvement of 11.5% in this area.

When it came to the number of reported deliberate fires, SWFR responded to the fourth highest number per 10,000 population.

But, due to the team’s sustained intervention work, SWFR also showed the highest level of improvement in this area with an overall reduction of 15.8%.

Officers also worked closely with the Welsh Government to tackle grass fire season which starts in February.

The team also worked to improve safety for vulnerable people in the community.

For example officers assisted a deaf woman, who cares for her three grandchildren, in Newport last year.

The woman was worried she would not be able to hear her grandchildren if they needed her during the night,

After carrying out a home safety check, crews fitted a hard of hearing alarm at the property, including a strobe light and a vibrating pad fitted under the pillow.

Less than three weeks later she was awoken by the device in the early hours of the morning.

A fire had broken out in the spare bedroom where a friend was staying.

The friend was severely burned and had to spent two months in hospital following the incident, but the device enabled fire officers to be alerted to the scene and they were able to get the family out safely.