A timely reminder for residents to prepare their homes against the risk of fire during winter, with the region’s Fire and Rescue NSW crews, kept busy last week.
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Over a number of days, Mudgee had several fires – including three houses.
On Friday night, crews were called to reports of a house fire in Market Street. Upon arrival, firefighters found a section of a residence alight in the external vicinity of a fireplace.
Crews were required to implement additional controls due to the working area safely collapsing and also containing asbestos.
A candle, burning too close to a curtain has been blamed for a blaze on Thursday afternoon in Mudgee. The occupants were forced to call triple-zero.
Crews ventilated the premises and provided one of the residents with oxygen therapy before an ambulance arrived. Nobody was injured, and the house sustained minor damage.
This occurred just days after a Mudgee home was severely damaged in an early morning blaze on Tuesday when the unoccupied building was engulfed in fire.
Crews from Mudgee and Gulgong arrived to find the house well alight. Fortunately, no one was located at the scene. But the internal search was initially delayed slightly, as the house showed signs of roof collapse.
Though not a house fire, Mudgee firefighters had another early start on Thursday morning when they were called out to a car fire. The car was totally destroyed.
Statistics from FRNSW show the cooler months see a 10 per cent increase in the number of house fires, which have already claimed five lives this year. To keep these areas of the home fire-safe, people should always:
- Keep household items a metre from the heater.
- Turn off heaters and electric blankets before leaving home or getting into bed.
- Keep candles away from curtains.
- Avoid using LPG cylinders for cooking or heating indoors.
- Clean lint filters in clothes dryer before or after each use.
- Avoid overloading power-boards.
- Ensure homes have a working smoke alarm.
The region's fires are a timely reminder for residents to check that their smoke alarms are operational, to wake anyone when a fire takes hold.
The FRNSW 2017 winter campaign is ‘Keep Looking When Cooking’, urging extra precautions in the kitchen.