Accidental house fires at three year low in Dundee

Firefighters work throughout the year, educating communities and sharing potentially life-saving advice.

Crews also install free smoke detectors as part of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s home fire safety visit programme.

Gordon Pryde is the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s local senior officer (LSO) for Dundee, Angus and Perth and Kinross.

Reflecting on the reduction in accidental domestic fires, LSO Pryde said: “It’s always pleasing to note a reduction in accidental fires within the home.

“We work hard every day to try and prevent fire from occurring and are always engaging with communities, householders and schools to try and drive down risk.

“Prevention is our best weapon against fire and plays a huge role in our national and local efforts.

“Ultimately, we’ll never be complacent in our attitude to fire or the safety of Scotland, but any reduction in fire is pleasing to note.”

Unwanted fire alarm signals (UFAS) result in thousands of unnecessary blue light journeys for firefighters in Scotland each year.

The City of Discovery saw 900 such unnecessary call outs between April 2018 and April 2019 – a three year low and reduction of almost 100 calls on the previous year.

Emphasising the importance of businesses, schools and hospitals being UFAS-aware, LSO Pryde said: “Unwanted fire alarm signals are exactly that – unwanted as well as unnecessary.

“When firefighters attend at these incidents, it can drag them away from genuine emergencies.

“Of course we’ll always be on-hand to respond to emergencies, but we’ll also strive to work with businesses and employers in an effort to drive down UFAS incidents.”