Home fires on the rise: prevention and planning the key to protecting your family

Zone Commander Stuart Alexander says it’s been a rough start to winter with several house fires across the region already.

“Fortunately, nobody has been too seriously injured in our region,” he says.

“Statistically, in the colder months, you get more home fires, people have got heaters on and cooking and so on.

“But statewide there have been four deaths this winter and we’re looking to get that figure to zero.”

On Saturday (11 June) Fire and Rescue crews were called to a fire at a unit on Bentley Place in Wagga where a woman was treated for smoke inhalation and hospitalised.

Mr Alexander oversees 19 stations across the Regional South 3 zone that takes in Albury, Deniliquin, Lockhart, Tumbarumba and Wagga Wagga.

“There’s a lot of territory there and we work very closely with the Rural Fire Service and the Victorian fire services as well being right on the border,” he says.

“The majority of our staff are what we call ‘on-call firefighters’. They’re members of the community who live within that community and they have a pager.

“They do an excellent job, but I also have permanent firefighters at Wagga and Albury on 24/7 shifts.”

Firefighters are kept busy attending fires, supporting the SES and Police and responding to hazardous materials incidents, but Mr Alexander says the majority of work is around prevention.

“It only takes about three minutes for a fire to take hold in your home, so you’ve got to move quickly,” he warns.

He says that smoke alarms are the fundamental tool in fire safety.

“The statistics tell us that the risk of mortality in the house was halved when a home does have a working smoke alarm,” he says.

“We offer a safety visit service to homes. All residents need to do is contact the local fire station firefighters to come around and make sure the smoke alarms are working and in the right place.”

Mr Alexander also says it’s important to reinforce the basics like “keeping a metre from the heater” to avoid clothes and fabric catching alight.

“There are many simple measures like cleaning the lint filter regularly in your clothes dryer and keeping outdoor heaters outside,” he said.

He also suggests discussing a fire escape plan and a meeting point with the family.

“Have a meeting point for everybody that lives in a house. Whether it’s a letterbox or the neighbour’s house, to make sure that everybody can be accounted for quickly and we know that everybody’s gotten out,” he says.

“When firefighters arrive, if they’re not there, we need to begin searching immediately. We know we’ve got a serious situation if we can’t locate people on arrival.

“Once you’re out, do not go back inside; get somebody to call Triple Zero and ask for the fire services. That will get help and assistance in the fastest possible way.”

You can book a NSW Fire and Rescue safety visit here.