PEEBLESSHIRE residents have been urged to help prevent devastating fires striking their homes.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service crews respond to an average of two house fires caused by the misuse of electrical equipment, faulty leads and appliances every day.

Following the emergencies, the service has teamed-up with the UK Chief Fire Officers Association and the London Fire Brigade to help people recognise the risks.

They are also calling for a single, easily accessible register of recalled faulty electrical products.

Assistant Chief Officer David McGown, the SFRS Director of Prevention and Protection, said: “The loss of cherished and irreplaceable possessions, the damage to a person’s confidence and their feeling of being safe, and of course the terrible financial impact can take a very long time to get over.

“Everyone needs to understand fire isn’t something that only happens to other people. It can happen to anyone and we all need to act to keep ourselves, our homes and our communities safe.”

Throughout Scotland in the last five years, there has been call-outs to more than 3,840 house fires where an electrical appliance was the source of ignition.

Nearly 1,800 of those fires were sparked by wiring, cabling and plugs.
Kitchen appliances known as ‘white goods’ accounted for 1,210 of the fires, including 425 that began at washing machines, 371 at tumble-dryers, 203 at dishwashers, 141 at fridge-freezers, 51 at combined washer-dryers and 19 at spin-dryers.

While some devices like fridge-freezers are designed to be left on at all times most are not –and leaving them on risks starting a potentially devastating fire.

Firefighters are clear people need to switch off and unplug such appliances as part of their night-time routine and whenever they leave the house.

They also want people to register their appliances with a website that enables manufacturers to get in touch if a product identified as potentially dangerous needs to be recalled for repair or to be replaced.

ACO McGown added: “We recommend that the public use www.registermyappliance.org.uk to check if their household appliances are safe. 

“In the small number of cases where manufacturers identify potential safety issues with particular appliances it’s important that information gets to people who have them in their homes.

“We want a service that goes even further though, so that 100 per cent of the industry and white goods brands are included.”

For more information, visit: www.firescotland.gov.uk.