Council promotes fire safety

Ruapehu District Council wants to remind people not to put fire grate ash out with their kerbside rubbish following a fire at the National Park Transfer Station yesterday.

The fire in one of the large container bins at the Transfer Station is suspected to have started from smouldering fire ash that was put out in a pink kerbside rubbish bag.

Waste Minimisation Officer Daniel Allen said that thanks to the quick response of the National Park Fire Brigade, no one was harmed and there was no property damage.

“We strongly advise against putting fire ash out with your kerbside rubbish unless it is at least three days old or thoroughly wetted down,” he said.

“People can take their ash to their local Transfer Station where we have special receptacles for this purpose.”

Council’s Property Team have also recently held a fire safety discussion with their social housing tenants following the fire in the Cherry Court Flats in Taumarunui in early August.

Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) Fire Safety Officer John (Luigi) Hotter talked with the tenants about fire safety that included videos that highlighted the speed that a fire can grow.

Community Property Officer Rina Hepi said that the speed and intensity of the flat fire gave all our tenants a bit of a wakeup call.

“While the fire was fresh in everyone’s mind we thought it was a good opportunity to ask FENZ to talk with our tenants about fire awareness and how to keep themselves safe,” she said.

“Luigi talked about the importance of having a fire safety plan and impressed upon everyone a number of key fire safety points to action and keep top of mind.”

“These included the importance of having working smoke alarms, in the case of a fire to ‘get out, stay out and call 111, and having an escape plan and fire assembly point and practicing it.”

“The discussion also covered common fire causes such as unattended cooking, placing things too close to a heater or fire and faulty electric blankets as well as the importance of having insurance.”

ENDS

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