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Provision of a “Home Fire Safety Check”

Provision of a “Home Fire Safety Check”

Summary

The Clare Age-Friendly Programme Manager & Older People’s Council have worked with the Clare County Fire and Rescue Service to highlight the importance of having a working smoke detector and encouraging older people and those living alone to avail of a free home inspection under its Community Fire Safety programme.
This is a free pre-arranged visit to people’s homes to provide advice on how to stay safe from fire, including:
• How to prevent fire happening
• What to do in the event of a fire
• Cooking and electrical safety
• Planning an escape route
• And a night-time routine.
If they find that smoke detectors need fitting in the homes or that existing faulty detectors need replacing, they will do this free of charge during the visit. The decline in fire-related deaths is attributed to general awareness of fire safety and the uptake in ownership of alarms.

Website: https://www.clarecoco.ie/your-council/[news]/home-fire-safety-checks-available-from-clare-county-fire-and-rescue-service.html

Key facts

Main target group: Older people in general

Other target group(s): This service is for older people and those living alone

Sector(s): Information and communication

Desired outcome for older people:
Meet their basic needs

Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:
  • Disasters and emergencies

Contact details

Name: Karen Fennessy

Email address: agefriendlyclare@clarecoco.ie

Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):

Engaging the wider community

Project lead: Older People’s Association

Others involved in the project:
  • Local authorities
  • Older People’s Association

How collaboration worked: The initiative was extensively advertised through facebook, twitter, Instagram, the Council’s website, local newspapers, interviews on local radio, talks at the various Day Care Centres and details of the initiative was circulated to District Nurses, Parish Offices, voluntary groups and Meals on Wheels. The Older People’s Council promoted this campaign through their own networks and word of mouth. This in turn resulted in many checks being carried out. The Clare County Fire and Rescue Service personnel have organised talks with groups including the Day Care Centres, Family Carers Ireland and the Joint Policing Committee. They have also created an awareness video, see link for more details: https://www.clarecoco.ie/services/emergency-services/fire-prevention/smoke-detectors/

Older people’s involvement: Older people were involved in the age-friendly practice at multiple or all stages

Details on older people’s involvement: Throughout the process the Clare Older People’s Council advertised the campaign through their own networks, circulated posters throughout their communities which helped to spread the word. Local voluntary groups also assisted with the advertising.

Moving forward

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: Yes

Was the impact positive or negative:
Positive

Please share with us what you found in detail:
The decline in fire-related deaths is one of the most crucial benefits of this initiative but also the raising of the public’s awareness of keeping their property safe from fire has made the initiative very worthwhile.

Feedback:
Very positive feedback has been received from older people who have availed of the service.

Expansion plans:
This is an ongoing campaign and any feedback from customers will be taken into consideration.

Looking back

Reflections:
This has been a very worthwhile campaign and it is the first time that the Clare County Fire and Rescue Service have carried out a free “Home Fire Safety Check” campaign and it has proven to be very popular and successful.

Challenges:
N/A