- Fire and resilience - Communities and Local Government
- ️Communities and Local Government
- ️Tue Aug 28 2007
Fires continue to fall
| Date of statement | 9 August 2007 |
|---|---|
| Type | Oral |
I welcome today's figures showing that deaths from house fires are at their lowest ever level since records began. This is a real testament to the excellent work of the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) in driving down fire deaths.
However we cannot afford to be complacent. That is why the Government put fire prevention at the heart of the work of the FRS and gave Chief Fire Officers the flexibility to allocate their resources themselves according to local needs to protect those most at risk. We will continue to work with the FRS on awareness campaigns targeting the most vulnerable people and at times when fire risk is higher - for example at Christmas.
This fall in the number of fire deaths is good news. Behind these numbers are real and personal stories of people's experiences of fire. They show more and more individuals and families surviving fires, and thanks to the work of the FRS and others, more and more households now have the knowledge they need to avoid a tragedy.