Industry News from Yes Insurance

Firefighters in Norfolk have issued a plea for homeowners to check that their smoke alarms are fully operational after a local newspaper report discovered that 70 per cent of Norwich's house fires occurred in homes which either had a faulty smoke alarm or neglected to have one at all.

The Norwich Evening News discovered that out of 424 house fires in 2006, 241 homes did not have a smoke alarm fitted. A further 43 had smoke alarms which failed to sound when a fire started.

Now fire services across the country are warning home owners to be particularly careful as Christmas sees many house fires occurring, thanks largely to the increased number of electrical items left on and festive candles which are not fully extinguished.

Norfolk fireman Gary McGonagle told the local newspaper: "I have been a firefighter for 23 years and have been out on several Christmas Day fires. It's never easy and there's no such thing as a small house fire.

"The devastation they cause is horrific. What we are finding now, more and more, is that houses have smoke alarms fitted but they are disabled, either because they keep going off by accident or the batteries have been removed," he continued

"I would urge people to make sure they have checked their alarms, or had them fitted, before looking to potentially overload sockets with Christmas lights."

House fires can cause thousands of pounds to repair structural damage and replace lost items and homeowners are advised to make sure that they have adequate home insurance in case the worst should happen.

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