FIGHTING fire with fire awareness is the focus of a new campaign launched by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade in Footscray on Tuesday.
The InFlame program will target 50,000 homes across Melbourne this year, focusing on communities affected by significant residential fires.
The Australian-first program will deliver fire safety information to residents’ mailboxes in the wake of major fires in their neighbourhood.
MFB chief officer Shane Wright said the project was successfully trialled in a 2010 pilot program. About 9000 homes were contacted and a later survey showed 65 per cent of the homes improved their fire safety knowledge and 70 per cent undertook fire safety action.
“The program sends targeted information to concerned communities, at a time when locals are most likely to take action in their own homes to protect themselves from fires in the home,” Mr Wright said. There were 1747 fires involving Melbourne residential properties last year – more than 30 per week – causing an estimated $26.3 million damage.
The InFlame mailout will alert the neighbourhood about nearby fires and outline steps to avoid a similar outbreak. The materials list links to the MFB website to help households with fire safety information.
