Prevention

Firefighters carry out thousands of ‘Safe and Well’ visits every year. They give advice to our more vulnerable residents to help reduce the risk of fire - to smokers or people living with dementia, for example - and can get them extra support from partners if needed.

Strong partnerships with colleagues and organisations in other sectors help us to identify and support people who are at higher risk from fires and other emergencies.

We carried out more than 31,000 ‘Safe and Well’ visits in 2022/23, of which 13,629 originated from partner referrals. We also handed out 12,056 pieces of equipment such as smoke alarms, alarms for people with impaired hearing and fire-retardant bedding.

But our prevention work extends well beyond the home. We provide fire and road safety education to hundreds of schools and colleges and at our interactive ‘Safeside’ learning centre in Birmingham, as well as at public events and through our popular Fire Cadets programme. Our WMFS volunteers support and add value to the delivery of many of these education programmes.

Our highly-regarded fire investigation team provides valuable information about the causes of fires. This helps us to ensure that we understand risks and target our resources effectively. The team also conduct investigations for other fire and rescue services.