Greater Manchester Firefighters urge residents to be safe at home

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is urging people to make sure they are keeping themselves and their family safe at home during the outbreak of coronavirus.

With many people now working from home and schools closed to most children, GMFRS say it is more important than ever that households are taking the right steps to ensure they are safe from fire.

The fire service is urging people to take small simple steps such as ensuring your smoke alarm is working and never leaving cooking unattended.

GMFRS’ Head of Prevention, Area Manager Paul Fearnhead, said: "While we are all spending more time in the house there is no excuse to not have working smoke alarms and to not be testing them regularly. Also take extra care in the kitchen, especially if you have young children around and if you are enjoying a drink, consider getting a takeaway delivered instead of making something yourself.

“Scaling back from non-emergency activities will not only help to protect the public and our staff from the threat of COVID-19 it will ensure that we have enough firefighters and fire engines to be able to provide an effective emergency response across Greater Manchester.”

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service has more information on keeping your home safe from a fire here.