VIDEO: Firefighters call on those '˜in need' with safety advice

Firefighters from Haywards Heath attended 277 homes in Franklands Village and were joined by WSFRS Crewing Optimisation Group, colleagues from Business Fire Safety, West Sussex County Council’s Resilience and Emergencies Team and Trading Standards and Community Operations and offered safety advice to residents who may need extra help and support during a power cut.

Advice was given to more than 130 households and a number of properties were identified for a follow-up visit, a spokesman from WSFRS said.

Chief fire officer Lee Neale, who went to see the work being carried last week, said: “Our partnership with UK Power Networks is a great way to engage with communities to provide a wide range of help and support to those who need it.

“We are always keen to find new ways of helping communities to be safe and resilient. Work like this provides a great deal of reassurance to residents and can help prevent incidents from occurring.”

UK Power Networks was also able to sign up a number of residents to its Priority Services Register, which can provide extra help and support to those in need.

The spokesman added that the visits were ‘especially useful’ for residents that had medical equipment, or with patients on oxygen, that neither organisation had been aware of, as well as people with limited vision or hearing and properties where residents had questions about their own fire safety.

UK Power Networks customer vulnerability manager Kerry Potter said: “Working with WSFRS was a privilege and really opens doors for us to help people who, during an emergency situation, would be vulnerable.

“Whether it be installing a smoke alarm, checking a careline service works, signing people up to our priority register, or just providing the reassurance of knowing who to call in an emergency, I think we made a real difference to some people’s lives.”

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