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Thousands of people in Rotherham will be safer from fire thanks to a new arrangement between the council and fire service.
South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue and Rotherham Council have signed an agreement which means the addresses of up to 7,000 properties that receive assisted bin collections will be passed onto the fire service so that specialist staff can offer free smoke alarms and advice on stopping blazes to residents.
The council offers assisted bin collections to people with a disability or medical condition which prevents them from putting their bins out on their own. With known links between people receiving assisted collections and risk of fire, the agreement has been put in place so the fire service can contact people living at those addresses to offer them help.
“So many of the people who needlessly die in house fires are known to another agency whether that’s a local authority, social housing provider or health partner. Through collaborations with other public services such as this we hope that we can plug the gap and create a safer South Yorkshire for everyone.”
Toni Tranter, Joint Community Safety and Early Intervention Manager at South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue.
Cllr Simon Ball at Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, said: “It’s great that we can partner with South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue to use our data to benefit our communities. Many residents who get an assisted waste collection have a disability or medical condition, so we’re pleased to be able to work with South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue to provide people with even more support to keep them safe.”
Between 2019 and 2024, 16 people died in house fires in South Yorkshire and fire service investigations finding that issues such as hoarding, drugs, alcohol and mental health problems frequently contributing to the fires starting.
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