Carlow County Fire & Rescue Service have been working in collaboration with the Carlow Older Persons Council, other sections of Carlow County Council, the Gardaí and other Community Groups by hosting two Information Roadshows at the Hacketstown Fire Station and Tullow Fire Station. These Information Roadshows provided people over 55 years of age with information on local services and supports. The County Fire Service provided a Community Fire Safety stand promoting home fire safety education including appropriate installation/maintenance of smoke alarms, having an escape plans, how to call the emergency services and advice around chimney fire prevention, smoking materials, cooking/heating appliance safety and electrical wiring/appliances.
A/CFO Ben Woodhouse:
‘’The National Directorate for Fire & Emergency Management collated, analysed and release the 2024 Fire Statistics last week. The highest cause of fires occurred in chimneys/flues/hot ashes with smoking materials, electrical wiring/appliances and cooking/heating appliances also contributing to high causation. Unfortunately there were 25 fire incident deaths recorded last year and I sympathise with those who have lost loved ones and friends in these incidents. The statistics also tell us that 21 of the 25 fire deaths, 84% involved persons aged 55+ with the average age being 69 yrs, that 11 of the 25 fire death incidents were in properties with no smoke alarms present and a high proportion occurred in the evening/night time particularly in the winter months. It is important for our Fire Authority to work in collaboration with other multi agency partners and to engage with those most at risk of fire. I am therefore pleased to open Carlow County Fire Stations to host these events where visitors could meet local firefighters and learn about home fire safety. We also recorded a number of requests to provide a free home fire safety check and installation of smoke alarms. I look forward to working with the Carlow Older Persons Council again hosting the same Information Roadshows at our Bagenalstown fire station and County Fire Service HQ in Carlow Town.’’