Brightonians put lives at risk with poor fire safety

Thousands of residents are putting their lives in danger by taking unnecessary risks when using electrical appliances.

A survey carried out for a fire safety campaign has revealed that up to a third of residents are failing to follow official safety advice with their household devices.

Almost two in five residents in Brighton surveyed by the Electrical Safety Council blocked air vents by failing to clean behind their fridges and freezers.

More than a third confessed to blocking air vents by using the microwave as an additional surface.

Other dangerous practices carried out include leaving the tumble dryer running unattended overnight and overloading adaptor sockets.

This week the safety council launched a campaign to improve electrical safety in the home with East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.

The council warned that fires caused by the misuse of appliances had increased by more than a third since 2009 despite an overall decline in house fires.

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service has attended numerous electrical appliance fires over the summer and regularly issue advice to residents.

On Monday August 13 firefighters were called to a microwave fire at Brighton and Hove City Council ’s housing office in Oxford Street, Brighton, while residents were lucky to escape a house fire in Rye Close, Polegate, on Monday May 28 after leaving their dishwasher on overnight.

Firefighters have also had to fight similar electrical appliance fires in The Bourne in Hastings on May 21, in Grand Parade, Brighton on April 15 and Malines Avenue in Telscombe Cliffs on Saturday April 14.

The survey also revealed that many Brighton adults do not have adequate protection from electrical fires with less than half having a residual current device in their fusebox.

To help the public become more aware of fire safety blunders, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service has created an online “Black Museum” of images from fire scenes where the public can learn important safety messages. In addition the Electrical Safety Council has created a Fire Blunders game hosted on Facebook and created a free home electrical safety check smartphone app.

To visit the “Black Museum” visit www.blackmuseum.info .

Comments(11)

Ohnotagain ! says...
4:09pm Wed 26 Sep 12

All the time the electricity companies offer cheaper electricity at night, the practice of using dishwashers, washing machines & tumble dryers at night will continue.

Hoarder12345444 says...
4:58pm Wed 26 Sep 12

That reminds me i must get a new fire alarm battery!!!

first comment is correct too. Overnight electric is, for some reason, cheaper at night. I have many plug sockets with extension cables left on overnight, though i turn most of them off during the day. Including the TV. I leave my router on all day, thats about it. Apparently I have to as it affects my broadband speed!!

ruberducker says...
6:10pm Wed 26 Sep 12

so its only the brightonians that are at risk.
i know im one-i was born here,and remained since,but i didn't know i was putting all the londoners,travellers
,e.t.c.at risk.
"great headline from the argus"??perhaps there is funding avaliable for the minority as i now feel a bit put out and may need support lol

rolivan says...
6:20pm Wed 26 Sep 12

Were the residents of Hove not included in the survey as I thought they are part of the City?

lillylou says...
6:56pm Wed 26 Sep 12

ruberducker wrote:
so its only the brightonians that are at risk.
i know im one-i was born here,and remained since,but i didn't know i was putting all the londoners,travellers

,e.t.c.at risk.
"great headline from the argus"??perhaps there is funding avaliable for the minority as i now feel a bit put out and may need support lol
Brilliant :)

John Fallon says...
7:18pm Wed 26 Sep 12

Hoarder12345444 wrote:
That reminds me i must get a new fire alarm battery!!!

first comment is correct too. Overnight electric is, for some reason, cheaper at night. I have many plug sockets with extension cables left on overnight, though i turn most of them off during the day. Including the TV. I leave my router on all day, thats about it. Apparently I have to as it affects my broadband speed!!
Whoever told you that was pulling your leg and costing you about £20 a year in electricity to run the router.

Overnight electricity is cheaper because they have to keep power stations at tickover anyway, so getting people to use electricity at non-peak times saves the power generation companies money - they don't have to bring on more power stations during daylight hours.

mustaphaLeeko says...
8:46pm Wed 26 Sep 12

John Fallon wrote:
Hoarder12345444 wrote:
That reminds me i must get a new fire alarm battery!!!

first comment is correct too. Overnight electric is, for some reason, cheaper at night. I have many plug sockets with extension cables left on overnight, though i turn most of them off during the day. Including the TV. I leave my router on all day, thats about it. Apparently I have to as it affects my broadband speed!!
Whoever told you that was pulling your leg and costing you about £20 a year in electricity to run the router.

Overnight electricity is cheaper because they have to keep power stations at tickover anyway, so getting people to use electricity at non-peak times saves the power generation companies money - they don't have to bring on more power stations during daylight hours.
Overnight electricity is ONLY CHEAPER if you have an economy 7 meter fitted!!!!!!!!

Otherwise it's the same price as the meter doesn't record WHEN it was used just how much was used!

FatherTed11 says...
1:12am Thu 27 Sep 12

mustaphaLeeko wrote:
John Fallon wrote:
Hoarder12345444 wrote:
That reminds me i must get a new fire alarm battery!!!

first comment is correct too. Overnight electric is, for some reason, cheaper at night. I have many plug sockets with extension cables left on overnight, though i turn most of them off during the day. Including the TV. I leave my router on all day, thats about it. Apparently I have to as it affects my broadband speed!!
Whoever told you that was pulling your leg and costing you about £20 a year in electricity to run the router.

Overnight electricity is cheaper because they have to keep power stations at tickover anyway, so getting people to use electricity at non-peak times saves the power generation companies money - they don't have to bring on more power stations during daylight hours.
Overnight electricity is ONLY CHEAPER if you have an economy 7 meter fitted!!!!!!!!

Otherwise it's the same price as the meter doesn't record WHEN it was used just how much was used!
I think we all knew that already, but thanks for making such a big deal out of it.

Morpheus says...
9:05am Thu 27 Sep 12

Ohnotagain ! wrote:
All the time the electricity companies offer cheaper electricity at night, the practice of using dishwashers, washing machines & tumble dryers at night will continue.
You are a bit out of date on this.

pwlr1966 says...
11:40am Thu 27 Sep 12

I am glad I live in Hove & not Brighton!!!

Roundbill says...
4:54pm Thu 27 Sep 12

Why is it only dangerous to use electrical appliances at night? Do they freak out after dark or something?

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