The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
HUNDREDS of Clare primary school pupils will receive fire safety awareness lessons during the coming months under a programme being administered by Clare County Fire and Rescue Service.
The information sessions form part of a nationwide programme entitled Safety Team, which is designed to teach third-class children how to educate their families about fire safety and protecting homes and communities from fire.
The programme was launched this week at Cranny National School and will be rolled out to Clare’s remaining 118 primary schools during the year.
“The age at which a child receives a fire safety lesson is important,” explained Colum Frawley, acting assistant chief fire officer, Clare County Fire and Rescue Service.
“Experience has shown that if the child is too young, then he or she may not fully understand the message and secondly, the child may become frightened. Children of eight or nine-years-old are more open to messages of fire safety and, if educated early enough, are less likely to progress into activities such as false alarms and arson,” he added.
Mr Frawley said the roll-out of fire safety awareness programmes across the county, including the Community Smoke Alarm Scheme and National Fire Safety Week, has contributed to an overall reduction in the number of fire incidents attended by the county’s Fire and Rescue Service during recent years.
Eight hundred and twenty-one incidents were attended by the Clare County Fire and Rescue Service during 2012, a 10% decrease on call-outs in 2011. Of the incidents, 46% were fire-related, while 20% related to road traffic accidents.
“It is essential that every home in Clare has a working smoke alarm fitted. Tragically, however, over 20% of homes in this country have no working smoke alarm – that is more than 320,000 homes.
“A smoke alarm will not prevent fires happening but it will warn people that it is happening and it will give them time to get out. The Safety Team programme will deliver this message to children so they can, in turn, educate their families,” Mr Frawley concluded.
