1 June 2009

Firefighters carried out free fire safety checks on more than 30 river and canal boats over the weekend.

The activity, held during national Boat Fire Safety Week, was organised by Red Watch, Beaconsfield, as part of the station’s neighbourhood plan. They were joined by their colleagues from Blue Watch, Gerrards Cross, on the Sunday.

Watch Manager Stuart Grosse from Beaconsfield Fire Station said: “Most of the boat owners had good fire safety measures - especially extinguishers - as they require four-yearly safety inspections to comply with their insurance. Most, however, hadn’t thought of escape plans, and few boats had working smoke alarms.”

The safety checks were carried out at Bourne End, Taplow and Cookham Bridge on the River Thames and Iver and New Denham on the Grand Union Canal. Firefighters were invited on to 33 boats and fitted a total of 44 smoke alarms.

Firefighters from Bletchley will be offering the same service on Sunday 7 June from 11am to 5pm. They will be based next to the Grand Union Canal in the Fenny Road layby just past Mill Lane, near Stoke Hammond.

Click here for a PDF of the national Fire Kills campaign's Fire Safety on Boats leaflet, and here for a PDF of the Boat Safety Scheme's leaflet, Avoiding Fire Afloat.

Click here to see the news release issued to promote Boat Fire Safety Week.