Lisburn Fire Crew Welcomes 20 Volunteers

20 volunteers have joined the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) in the Lisburn area to help support the delivery of fire safety in the local community.

Dale Ashford, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service said: "We are delighted to welcome the new volunteer fire safety ambassadors to our new and innovative pilot initiative to assist us in targeting the people most at risk from the dangers of fire within the Lisburn area.

"The response to the volunteer recruitment campaign was extremely positive and we have selected 20 enthusiastic and motivated individuals with a keen interest in fire safety. They range from their early 20s to late 70s and are from a wide variety of backgrounds including a retired university lecture, a farmer, a stay at home mum and a student. Many hail from the Lisburn area and others from as far away as Enniskillen.

"Our volunteers have been trained in basic fire safety education and have already begun their important work within the Lisburn area. Volunteers will be engaging with those most at risk in our community and will offer them fire safety advice to help keep them safe from fire in the home and have also been trained to identify people most in need of our Free Home Fire Safety Check via our referral scheme. All volunteers have been equipped with a NIFRS volunteer uniform and appropriate identification."

The pilot initiative is running in the Lisburn area from 28 April – 7 July 2014 and will be evaluated with a view to rolling the scheme out across various Districts across Northern Ireland.

(IT/JP)