Whakatāne Volunteer Fire Brigade and Whakatāne Neighbourhood Support have teamed up to offer free home visits focused on fire safety.

Firefighters Ken Clark and Jim Ritchie are visiting people’s homes to check their smoke alarms, offering free ones, and talking to occupants about fire safety.

It’s a voluntary service offered by the firefighters in efforts to give the community the best chance of surviving a housefire.

They have completed 75 home visits organised through Neighbourhood Support since March. Many of the people to benefit from the visits have been older people, but people of all ages are encouraged to request a home visit.

Last week, another 12 people signed up for a visit after Neighbourhood Support promoted them via their newsletter.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand advises that people have less than three minutes to evacuate a room after a fire has started in it.

Mr Clark said that wasn’t a very long time, but smoke alarms were a good warning device.

“People go back to try find the cat, the dog, the budgie, the goldfish and all sorts of things and get caught.”

Sometimes people have smoke alarms, but they don’t have batteries, or they’re removed from the ceiling, he said.

“We hear a lot of ‘I was gonna do that tomorrow,’ but tomorrow might be too late.”

Mr Ritchie said the aim was to get people out of the house as quickly as possible in the event of any fire.

The fire load – the potential severity of a fire within a specific area – of houses these days was huge, he said, especially because of the number of common items made of highly flammable rubber foam.

“And if it starts to burn, it goes very quick and fills the house up with poison gas. Smoke alarms let you know to get out as quick as you can, and they’re pretty sensitive – as you probably know.”

Mr Ritchie said the purpose of the home checks was to ensure people had all the tools they needed to get out in the event of a fire.

They work with occupants to develop an escape plan which includes at least two exit routes, even if that means being prepared to smash a window and throw down a blanket to get out. Cigarettes, pots on stoves, electrical fires, hot ash from fireplaces and human error continue to be common causes of fire. A newer issue they are noticing is lithium-ion batteries overheating, especially in phones that are charging overnight.

Nationally, one third of residential fires attended by fire brigades do not have working smoke alarms.

Both Mr Clark and Mr Ritchie push the message that fire alarms may not save your belongings, but they could save your life.

To book a home visit with the firefighters, contact Neighbourhood Support Whakatāne by email [email protected] or call co-ordinator Jane Fox on 027 255 1351.