Every day several thousand people at a host of
organisations in Bristol work in a wide range of roles, with one
aim in mind – to make the city safer.
And as a member of the Safer Bristol partnership Avon Fire &
Rescue Service took part in a special day to celebrate their
efforts.
On Friday 27 March 2009 a city-wide Day of
Action was held in an attempt to make Bristol ‘The safest city
in the world for 24 hours’.
With that focus in mind organisations including Bristol City
Council, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and AF&RS took part in
a series of high profile events aimed at addressing 24 national
indicators. By injecting increased resources to make Bristol the
safest city for the day, it is also hoped the work would bring
about long term positive change for local people. The indicators
focused on included addressing perceptions of anti social
behaviour, tackling arson, reducing CO2 omissions, reducing primary
fires and bringing down the number of RTC injuries.
During the Safer Bristol Day of Action staff from Avon Fire
& Rescue Service took part in more than 50 events across the
city in partnership with a host of other organsations.
The events focused on five themes, home safety, road safety,
business safety, personal safety and secondary and deliberate fires
– all issues in which AF&RS has an interest in improving public
safety.
Home fire safety
During the day staff visited nine sheltered housing developments in
Bristol. In total 100 Home Fire Safety Visits were
completed and residents were given information on a range of
issues that may affect them.
Other efforts to highlight the importance of home fire safety
took place at our 
Community Safety Centres at Speedwell and Southmead fire stations.
Chip pan fire demonstrations at our third Bristol Community Safety
Centre in Symes Avenue attracted well over 100 people, with 80
people signing up to have a Home Fire Safety Visit. Young families
were also invited into the centre where parents and young people
were given lifesaving tips. Thirty children at a primary
school also learned basic fire safety tips when they were
treated to a ‘Sparks’ presentation by local firefighters.
Staff were also out and about in the city at the Barton Hill
Settlement and at Morrison’s supermarket in Fishponds where 76
people requested Home Fire Safety Visits and more than 100 took
arson prevention packs.
One of the objectives of the Safer Bristol Day was to take steps
to engage further with people in Black and Minority Ethnic (BME)
communities, who statistically are at greater risk of suffering
fires in their home. During the day staff visited two mosques in
Easton, the Bangladeshi Association, the Easton Community Centre,
St Paul’s Learning Centre and two traveller sites providing advice
on home fire safety as well as information on recruitment.
Road safety
Road Safety remains an important focus of the work of AF&RS
and was the subject of a series of events to coincide with the
Safer Bristol event.
Our Command Support Unit was brought in at a police Automatic
Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) initiative taking place at Ashton
Gate. Drivers stopped for motoring offences such as not wearing a
seatbelt and using a mobile phone were invited onto the vehicle to
see sections from our RoadSkills presentation in a bid to
re-educate them
on their driving habits.
During the police operation more than 30 people met fire
officers to watch the films and also hear first hand accounts of
the effects serious road accidents have on emergency service staff
who attend them, including firefighters.
A hard hitting presentation for teenagers was also given at a
Bristol school for excluded pupils. ‘For my Girlfriend’ is aimed at
young male drivers, encouraging them to adopt safer driving
habits.
Business safety
Fires at local businesses can often be devastating to
livelihoods so business safety presentations were provided at our
headquarters.
Local councillors and planning officers from Bristol City
Council were invited to watch a sprinkler demonstration to
highlight the impact they can have in reducing fire damage in
buildings.
Personal safety
During the Safer Bristol Day of Action staff continued our
partnership with Unite, which provides accommodation for students
living in the city. Visits were made to five Unite halls where
students and site managers were provided with leaflets and given
face-to-face advice specific to the risks they may face.
Students at the City Academy also had a visit where they heard
about the risks posed by hoax calls and how they can be
reduced.
In Hartcliffe fire safety audits of communal areas at two high
rise flats took place, with the information being fed back to the
local authority. The profile of fire safety provision within high
rise accommodation was raised during the visits, which also gave
operational crews the chance to meet residents and familiarise
themselves with the buildings.
As part of the actions that took place during the day, 18
licensed premises in the Avonmouth area were visited, with advice
being given to customers.
Secondary and deliberate fires
Secondary fires are generally those classified as involving
property or vehicles that are not in use. This may include
abandoned cars, void properties and generally involves smaller,
nuisance fires such as rubbish fires.
Secondary fires have an impact on AF&RS in terms of the time
and resources used attending fires of this type, but they also have
a negative impact on the community. As part of the Safer Bristol
Day of Action one of our aims was to identify and remove items
that may have been targeted by arsonists.
During the event staff worked alongside the Probation Service and
Bristol City Council's Clean & Green. Our Welfare Unit was
brought in to provide refreshment and toilet facilities for those
taking part in the community clean ups at St James Barton
Roundabout. Meanwhile in Southmead staff took part in a community
clean up, meeting local people and providing fire safety advice at
the same time.
Avon Fire & Rescue Service Area Manager Brian McCutcheon, who
is also the Chair of Safer Bristol said: "This event was a huge
success for AF&RS, it showed other agencies our commitment to
making people safer and our 'can do' attitude to making a
difference where it matters most. The flexibility and commitment of
our staff is what made that difference, working together with
others to help change peoples lives."