Following a recent house fire in the Harrogate District, firefighters from Harrogate Fire Station are urging people to check their smoke alarms.
Harrogate Station Manager Rich Hanley said:
Crews recently attended a house fire in the Harrogate area during the early hours of the morning. There were working smoke alarms that woke the family and they managed to get out.
A fire had started in a consumer unit in the downstairs cloakroom and had produced a good deal of heat, fire and smoke.
Crew Manager, Andy Petchey, attended the incident:
Luckily when we arrived at the incident all the occupants were out of the house. We then sent in two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus and they used a hose real to put the small fire out.
Smoke often doesn’t wake people sleeping, but the body absorbs carbon monoxide. The carbon monoxide enters your bloodstream and mixes with haemoglobin to form carboxyhaemoglobin.
The blood is no longer then able to carry oxygen, and this lack of oxygen causes the body’s cells and tissue to fail and die.
Harrogate Station Manager Rich Hanley added:
Without smoke detectors the outcome of this house fire would likely have been very different.
Although this is a message we have given out many times, we would urge people to test their smoke detectors – if they are not working then you really need to get them working.
We will also come out and do a risk assessment, just call the station on 01423 504 682
