How to keep your home safe from fire

Our main priority is to make sure our customers are safe in their home and free from harm. This includes keeping you and your home safe in the event of a fire. Fires can start quickly and can cause devastating damage to your home as well as putting lives in danger.

What can we do to help?

• We carry out regular risk assessments in all of our sheltered schemes and communal blocks to check if there are any fire hazards and solve them as quickly as possible before an accident happens.
• We carry out regular gas and electrical safety checks within all of our homes.
• We fit smoke and heat alarms  and carry out annual testing.  If you do not have any smoke alarms in your home please contact us and we will arrange to install them.
• We also check that fire detection systems in communal blocks and flats are maintained in line with legal requirements and guidance.
• Where required we have clear emergency escape and exit signs on display  in our communal blocks to guide you to safety if there is a fire.
• We either have a “full evacuation” or “stay put” policy in place within our communal blocks and sheltered schemes to keep our tenants safe in an emergency. You should have been told about what to do where you live in the event of a fire, but if not it is important you contact us to get this information. It could save your life.

How can I help make my home fire safe?

Most fires start from poor cooking practices but fires can also be started by unattended cigarettes/candles or faulty electrical wiring/appliances.

Here’s a few things you can do to keep your home and family safe from a fire:

Check your smoke alarm works

• We want to keep you safe and recommend you check your alarm once a week to make sure it is working. This is also a requirement of our tenancy agreement.
• To test the alarm press the test button which is normally in the centre of the unit.
• If there is no sound when the test button is pressed, you should either change the batteries or report this to us.

Take extra care when you are cooking

• When the cooker is switched on, don’t leave pots and pans unattended.
• Keep tea towels, cloths and any other flammable materials away from the cooker.
• Make sure when you are finished cooking, all of the appliances are switched off.
• Avoid the use of open chip pans, use a deep fat fryer instead.
• Don’t leave children unsupervised in the kitchen and stay alert.

Be careful when smoking in your home

• It is always best to use glass, metal or ceramic ashtrays that can’t burn.
• Make sure when you stub your cigarette it is fully out and not still alight.
• Don’t smoke in bed where you could fall asleep and forget about it.

Keep all communal areas/escape routes free from rubbish

• Make sure you can easily escape from your home if there is a fire and there are no obstructions to stop you from doing so – keep exit routes clear.
• Rubbish left in communal areas may also cause accidents if other people are trying to escape in a hurry.
• Avoid excessive storage of flammable materials within your home, and keep communal corridors clear.

Check your electrics are safe

• At night time switch off and unplug all of your appliances including mobile chargers and plug-in air-fresheners.
• Regularly check for any hot plugs or plugs that have black or scorch marks.
• Check if there are any loose wires or broken electrical fittings, e.g. sockets, switches.
• If you find any of these, or feel there is a fault, contact us straight away.

Our Parent Company, The Riverside Group, have a partnership agreement in place with the London Fire Brigade. If you live in a flat, you can also find some useful advice from the London Fire Brigade here about making sure you know what to do in the event of a fire.