Fire & Rescue, Fire Safety
FireAngel partners with Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service for school safety project
FireAngel are delighted to be partnering with Derbyshire FRS to help children solve the puzzle of home safety.
Fire & Rescue, Fire Safety
Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service (DFRS) has partnered with Midlands-based smoke, heat and carbon monoxide (CO) manufacturer, FireAngel, to produce an innovative home fire safety jigsaw puzzle to engage over 14,000 school children as part of DFRS’s ongoing school fire safety education programme.
The bespoke jigsaw, which is the first of its kind in the UK, will be used by community safety officers to engage year six students at 400 schools across Derbyshire in a fun and interactive way.
The puzzle encourages student participation in the sessions to help them understand and identify potential fire hazards within the home, whilst also encouraging discussion on the most appropriate positions to install smoke and CO alarms.
Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service has been delivering its schools education programme for over 15 years to year 2 and year 6 children, focusing on increasing awareness and education of how fires in the home can be prevented, including the importance of installing working smoke alarms and making a fire plan.
In 2021/22 Derbyshire Firefighters attended 377 accidental dwelling fires, underlining the need to continue raising awareness in young children about home fire safety.
As part of the school lesson, children are taught a general introduction to how fires start within the home. It highlights the danger of heat sources found within the home, using the Fire Triangle to support learning around the science of fire. The lesson also highlights the importance of responsible smoke alarm ownership and encourages children to make a fire plan with the people they live with.
Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service’s Risk Reduction Manager, Kay Simcox who led the project said: “Our ambitious schools education programme targets all Derbyshire Year 2 and Year 6 school children educating them about the dangers of fire in the home and how they can help prevent them.
“By working in partnership with FireAngel we have been able to design and produce a home fire safety jigsaw puzzle that will allow our community safety officers to deliver a fun, engaging and interactive session, that will embed the common causes of fire firmly in the memory of students.
“The jigsaw puzzle, which is the first of its kind being used across the UK fire and rescue sector, went down really well at its launch at Richard Endowed Primary School in Smalley, with the children enjoying the challenge of a puzzle that was both educational and fun.”
To support the education of over 400 school children, 120 home fire safety jigsaw puzzles have been purchased.
Elizabeth Mitchel, Fire & Rescue Service National Account Manager at FireAngel, said: “We are extremely proud to be supporting DFRS in educating local school children on how to stay fire safe, whilst encouraging families to discuss the dangers of fire and how they can be avoided.
“As one of Europe’s leading fire safety suppliers, we are committed to working closely with local Fire and Rescue Services across the UK to raise awareness throughout communities and provide dedicated support and education to residents.”
Why not discover more about how FireAngel supports our people, communities and partnerships, including charity fundraising, workplace wellbeing, mental health mentors and cycle to work schemes.
