Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) is appealing to anyone who has concerns about home fire safety for themselves or their loved ones, to contact NIFRS for free home fire safety advice.
The appeal comes following the tragic death of a 61 year old woman following a fire at her home in Lisburn in this morning (6 May). The cause of the fire is believed to be accidental, which means that in the last 8 days across Northern Ireland, 3 people, all aged over 60, have tragically lost their lives in accidental fires in the home.
On 28 April 2021 a 74 year old man died in hospital following a fire at his home in Newtownbutler and on 30 April a 78 year old man died following a fire at his home in Newry.
This morning 2 Fire Appliances from Lisburn Fire Station attended the incident in Meadow Crescent Lisburn at 6.02am but sadly the woman was confirmed dead at the scene.
Assistant Chief Fire & Rescue Officer Paddy Gallagher said:
“On behalf of NIFRS I would like to extend my sincere sympathies to the families and friends of the deceased at this difficult time. In a period of just over a week we’ve seen 3 such incidents across Northern Ireland all involving people aged over 60.
“With COVID restrictions still in place preventing household visits it’s more important than ever that we check in with our older family and friends and consider their fire safety. This can be done safely via telephone, virtually or by calling outside their home or garden at a safe distance. Talk to them about their fire safety and remind them of the importance of testing their smoke alarm once a week, having a bed time fire safety routine, a fire escape plan and what they should do in an emergency.
“If you have any concerns, do not hesitate to contact us by calling our HQ on 02892 664221 or visiting our website www.nifrs.org. Our Firefighters will provide you with detailed advice and in some circumstances can visit the home of someone, using personal protective equipment, to carry out a free home fire safety check and fit a smoke alarm.
“We need your help to help us protect the most at risk in our community from fire. We must do everything we can to help STOP Fire. Remembering this simple slogan can help make us all safer – S is for Smoke Alarm, make sure you have at least 1 working smoke alarm on every floor of your home. T is for test those smoke alarms weekly. O is for obvious dangers, be aware of the common causes of accidental fires including smoking materials, electronics and cooking. P is for plan your escape – make sure you have an escape plan in the case of a fire starting.”
In 2019/20 there were 782 accidental fires in the home and 3 fatalities.
In 2020/21 there were 761 accidental fires in the home and 8 fatalities.