Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) is reminding Berkshire residents to stay safe when celebrating with family and friends this Easter.
Fire safety is important throughout the year, but the celebratory periods – like Easter – bring extra distractions, which make it especially important to be vigilant and ensure you and your loved ones stay safe.
Neil Carter, Group Manager for RBFRS, said: “We can sometimes see an increase in the number of call outs to emergencies during bank holiday weekends, so we have provided some useful information to help keep residents safe in their homes.
“This involves advice on keeping your electrical devices in order, maintaining smoke alarms and a reminder to residents to ensure they avoid distractions and don’t leave cooking unattended.
“Also, during this time, please be mindful of those in your community that may not be coping. Check-in on elderly or vulnerable relatives, friends and neighbours and be on the look-out for signs that something might be wrong.”
One of RBFRS’ commitments to the people of Berkshire is to educate people on how to prevent fires and other emergencies, and what to do when they happen. Here are some simple steps to help you and your family stay safe from fire over the Easter Bank Holiday:
- Ensure you have working smoke alarms installed on all levels of your home. Working alarms can give you the vital time needed to escape in a fire. Test your smoke alarms every week and never remove batteries!
- Never leave cooking unattended. The majority of fires start in the kitchen, so this is a high-risk area. Always turn off kitchen appliances when you have finished cooking.
- Never leave burning candles unattended. Keep candles out of the reach of children, and away from decorations, cards, fires, lights and heaters.
- Don’t overload sockets. Ensure only one plug per socket. Always turn off plugs when they are not in use, except those that are designed to be left on, like freezers.
- Ensure you switch off fairy lights and unplug them before you go to bed, or leave the house. Check your fairy lights conform to the British Standard (BS EN 60598) and are in good working order before use.
Most importantly, make sure that everyone in your home knows what to do in the event of a fire – get out, stay out and call 999.
In addition, with the potential for cold weather to return to parts of the UK in time for Easter, we are also urging residents to be mindful if they are having to travel over the Easter period.
If you are planning to travel, then please take the time to read our road safety advice, which is available on our website: www.rbfrs.co.uk/your-safety/out-and-about/road-safety/.