Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service has won a prestigious national award for the work it does in helping communities across the county stay safe.
The county's firefighters picked up the Community Cohesion award at the Local Government Chronicle and Health Service Journal Sustainable Communities Awards held in London's Grosvenor House Hotel last night (25 February) .
The Fire & Rescue Service scooped the award for their work on projects which deliver fire and accident prevention advice to young and old people, people in deprived areas, people with disabilities and people from minority and ethnic backgrounds.
Figures show that two in every three people who die in house fires do so before the Fire and Rescue Service is even called - making it a priority for fire crews to prevent as many blazes as possible from happening in the first place through things like home safety visits.
Since 2003, firefighters have visited more than 40,000 homes in Cumbria to fit smoke detectors and deliver basic fire prevention advice. Over the same period, the number of people injured in accidental dwelling fires in the county has fallen by two thirds (65 per cent).
Special effort is made to ensure this and other important fire and accident prevention services are made available to every section of Cumbrian society, including often hard-to-reach groups.
Councillor Gary Strong, county council cabinet member responsible for Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service, said: "The Fire and Rescue Service plays a key role in community cohesion and it's fantastic news that Cumbria has been recognised on a national level for the crucial work it does in this field. Firefighters now have a greater emphasis than ever before on preventing fires, road collisions and other accidents from happening in the first place."
Cumbria's Chief Fire Officer Dominic Harrison, said: "It's great to see the hard-work of staff getting the nationwide recognition it deserves. We have some innovative schemes in the county that are helping every community in Cumbria to stay safe. This award is a great incentive to carry out even more prevention work and build on the innovation we've seen so far."
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Media enquiries to Gareth Cosslett, News Manager on 01228 606332
Notes
A picture of Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service receiving the award will be available later today on request.
The other nominations for the Community Cohesion award were Bristol City Council for its St Paul's Unlimited Community Partnership and Leeds City Council for its Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Foundation for Peace.