DOUBLING the amount of time spent teaching fire safety advice has led to a drop in the number of people seriously injured in house fires.In the year up to September 2007, 2.

DOUBLING the amount of time spent teaching fire safety advice has led to a drop in the number of people seriously injured in house fires.

In the year up to September 2007, 2.31 people per 100,000 were seriously hurt in fires in homes across Suffolk, compared to 3.18 per 100,000 in the same period until September 2006.

In that same time, the amount of hours spent by officers giving fire prevention advice rose from 11,380 hours to 20,840 hours.

Chief Fire Officer Lee Howell said this shows that 'prevention is better than cure' when it comes to keeping Suffolk safe.

Mr Howell said: “It is very good to know that less people are being seriously hurt, and we think part of that is down to the increase in fire prevention work we are doing.

“Officers will visit people in their homes, and advise them on easy steps they can take to prevent fires, and stop themselves being hurt if a fire does break out.

“We have very nearly doubled the amount of time we have spent on that work in the year, and is seems to be having an impact.

“It supports what is basically a change in our focus, towards prevention and education.”

Another related statistic shows that the number of non-working smoke and fire alarms found in homes visited by fire safety officers has dropped.

In the year to September 2006, 17.6 pc of alarms installed in homes were found not to be working when tested by fire officers.

In the year to September 2007, this had dropped to 12 .1 pc.

Mr Howell said: “People are being advised to check their alarms more often and it seems the message is getting through.”

Have you been affected by a house fire? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk