UPTON Priory is a fire danger zone. That’s the warning from Macclesfield’s firefighters after a kitchen in the hot spot went up in flames last week – just a few days after the owner refused a safety check from the crew.
Macclesfield Fire Station manager Mike Anderson said: "Upton Priory is one of our ‘hard to reach’ areas, as is the Moss Estate.
"There are more accidental dwelling fires in these areas and want to get the message across that in many cases, these can be avoided.
"The fire in question could have been avoided, we know that from checking the property afterwards."
Cheshire Fire and Rescue has been offering Home Safety Assessment and fitting of free smoke detectors for many years, but some residents refuse the offer.
Mike added: "Back in 1998 and 1999 the number of fires in people’s home averaged 130 a year, but in the last five years the average number has been 40 – and that’s partly down to these assessments.
"The difficulty the fire service finds is that the areas of highest concentration of accidental dwelling fires is the area that has the lowest occupier interest."
For Macclesfield, these areas are Upton Priory and Moss Estates which account for eight per cent and 7pc respectively of the overall 217 fires in the last five years.
He said Macclesfield South and Broken Cross were also areas of concern.
Local fire crews are targeting householders now on an almost daily basis with the offer of free Home Safety Assessments. If they are in your area, they will leaflet in advance.
Mike added: "Every HSA completed and every smoke detector fitted by the firefighters is potentially a fire averted, or injury prevented."
