Help the vulnerable to stay safe
Every year, thousands of people across Essex receive fire prevention advice and support to help keep them safer in their homes.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service provides home safety visits, delivers education schemes, takes part in community events and issues advice over social media.
Firefighters, volunteers and community safety officers carry out Home Fire Safety Checks to give advice on fire safety around the home.
More in-depth Safe and Well visits, by trained Safe and Well Officers, aim to improve health and wellbeing and provide crime prevention advice to the most vulnerable residents.
During the year 2021/2022, 5,179 Safe and Well Visits were carried out, along with Home Fire Safety Checks to –
- reduce the number of accidental house fires in Essex
- reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured as a result of house fires.
The visits establish whether residents have enough working smoke alarms, identify any fire risks, highlight anything which could hamper an escape during a fire, and give a chance to find out the best course of action if there were a fire in the home.
Throughout the pandemic, more and more people across Essex have found themselves needing support.
Specialist interventions and safeguarding support has meant the most vulnerable can access help before they reach crisis point.
Last year, 1,149 referrals were made to the safeguarding team for residents to receive support to reduce the risk of harm.
Groups most at risk of fire are adults over the age of 65, single adult households, lone parent households with dependent children, those with physical disabilities, people with mental health problems, aging populations, smokers, heavy drinkers and people who face significant deprivation.
