Firefighters urge caution and testing

As temperatures drop and heaters get cranked up, Rockingham firefighters are reminding residents to stay vigilant about fire safety.

The warning comes after a 19-year-old Cooloongup man was severely burnt in a house fire last Wednesday.

A Department of Fire and Emergency Services spokesman said investigators believed the fire was ignited after the man tried to light a fire in his home, using petrol, and caused $200,000 damage.

With summer done and dusted, Rockingham Fire Station station officer Tony Gaynor said firefighters were dealing with a whole different range of safety concerns.

“This year it has been a late incoming of the cold, so now people are just starting to feel the chill, so we have things like (chimney) flues that haven’t been cleaned for months — we have heaters that haven’t been used and electric blankets that haven’t been used or have been folded up in the cupboard,” he said. Mr Gaynor said kitchen accidents, damaged electric blankets, people standing to close to heaters or leaving items in front of them to dry, and not cleaning fire flues before igniting them were main causes of house fires.

He encouraged all residents to have old and electric heaters checked by an electrician.

“The main tips that we have for this year are checking your smoke alarm is not older than 10 years, if you aren’t sure then replace it,” Mr Gaynor said.

“Never leave children unsupervised near heaters or fires including stoves, keep all objects at least 1m from the heater and make an escape plan so the family know what to do if there is a fire in the home.”

He said it was quite rare to come across someone trying to light a fire in their home with petrol and urged people to “think before they act”. “Usually it is people who aren’t thinking clearly,” Mr Gaynor said.

“Think about the consequences, think what if, not if only.”

Last year in WA there were 176 accidental winter house fires.