How to help England’s heroic firefighters (and safety tips)
England has around 40 fire brigades, who not only risk their lives to help in the cases of serious fires, but also will visit old people to check their smoke alarms work. And sometimes go up to trees to rescue over-ambitious cats.
They also attend road crashes, floods, rescues and chemical incidents. Some firefighters are on-call, others are full-time.
Elvis & Kresse makes vegan accessories from upcycled firehose. To date it’s rescued over 300 tons of firehose. It also donates 50% of profits to Firefighter’s Charity (almost half a million pounds so far!)
But of course the best way to help them is to try to prevent fires in England. There are many incidents where fires tend to be for the same reasons, so we can help:
The biggest causes of fires in England are:
- Cooking appliances (42%)
- Smoking materials
- Heating appliances (use oil-based radiators over convector heaters)
- Candles and naked flames (lighters etc)
Fire emergency plans
- Install working smoke alarms on every floor, and test them weekly. Als obuy a fire extinguisher and blanket, and know how to use them.
- Create a clear plan for how to leave the premises quickly and safely. Know two exits from every room.
- Establish a meeting point for everyone outside your home or office. Practice regular fire drills.
Top ways to help prevent fires
You can also get a free fire safety check from most fire services, ideal say for people who are elderly and can’t fit smoke alarms themselves. Help the Aged has people who can also carry out jobs like this at low cost.
Follow safe cooking tips in the kitchen
Follow safe cooking advice. Have a fire extinguisher nearby. Turn pot handles inwards, and tie hair back (and avoid floating sleeves). Also replace chip fat fryers with new safe air-fryers with safety cut-outs.
All stores selling electrical equipment have to by law take back goods for recycling, even if you don’t buy new. Time to drag out all the old unsafe appliances in your kitchen cupboard, for a new home to be made into other things!
Also update anything that looks unsafe (hairdryers to toasters).
Never drop cigarette butts
Never drop cigarette butts on the ground. If you can’t find a proper bin, then use a pocket ashtray to help prevent cigarette litter (which can also cause wildfires in the countryside).
Follow safety tips if using candles
Avoid candles unless needed (and never use them around children or pets – and only use unscented versions elsewhere nearby).
Read our post on cleaner safer candles, with important safety tips. Namely avoid use near flammables (curtains etc), place on a stable surface and use a proper candle snuffer (don’t just blow itout).
Don’t overload sockets
Don’t overload sockets. Go through all your electronics (in the office, behind the TV). Get rid of any that are broken, frayed or no longer needed (again you can recycle them at stores).
Then whatever is left, ensure it’s safe and you should be good to go. If you still have a lot of cables that are needed, get one of those devices to safely keep them together.
Throw out dodgy Christmas lights
Throw out dodgy Christmas lights (they are not good outside as they cause light pollution and can short-circuit other people’s homes).
Safe storage of flammable items
Take flammable liquids and chemicals to the tip (or have them collected). Or if used, store in well-ventilated areas (linseed paint brushes should be steeped in water).
Keep safe for fires, log burners, thatched roofs
If you have a real fire, read our post on fireplace safety (this also includes important info on how to humanely deter birds from nesting in chimneys and how to rescue them, if found).
Prevent wildfires
Climate change and heatwaves have caused many wildfires in England this year. It’s actually quite terrifying that some political parties are still in climate science denial. Just recently, the winner of the Clacton-on-Sea byelection held a festival nearby with ‘three open fires’ in the middle of wildfire season.
If they had gone out of control, they could have caused devastation and loss of life for miles around. And they want to run the country? Read more on how to prevent wildfires
Never release fire lanterns
Fire lanterns are awful things, they fall to the ground and leave dangerous spikes. In Germany, one fell into an enclosure of a zoo and killed several animals. Even a young boy has been killed in the past. Read of reasons to ban fire lanterns.
Avoid fireworks
Fireworks terrify animals and birds, and can also cause fires. If you do watch them, do so at proper displays. Read how to keep animals safe near firework displays.
Lessons to learn from Grenfell
Two of the women killed in the Grenfell fire (which killed many people and pets) actually warned the builders of problems with access. Of course many died in the fire (caused by accident from a plastic-backed freezer) due to not being able to escape.
Now illegal to buy new, never buy plastic-backed fridge/freezers second-hand.
One good idea is to follow town-planning advice and (like Paris) focus new buildings being no more than four-storeys high. This gives better community, but also makes buildings much safer in the event of a major fire.
Or in an urgent emergency, people could risk jumping out onto a makeshift tarpaulin held by volunteers. They may get injured, but it would be a lot safer than high tower blocks.
- Register electrical appliances, to be notified of safety repairs & recalls.
- Ensure councils do proper fire checks and inspections. Immediately replace with safer cladding.
- Surrey Fire Service has tips for councils and builders like better escape routes and fire doors and maintaining ‘dry risers’ (empty pipes that fire brigades can pump water to multiple levels).
- Fix My Block is a site where tower block residents can download and sample letters, to ensure the law is adhered to for fire and gas safety, cladding and repairs.
Thought vegans were weak & weedy?
If you think that vegans are weedy and would fall over if you brushed them with a feather, meet:
- Rip Esseltyn is a former US firefighter who promotes the plant-strong lifestyle (he’s the son of the first cardiologist to reverse heart disease in patients through diet, proven on angiograms). At 60, he became world record holder in 200 metre backstroke for his age group!
- We think Fiona Oakes is one of the most amazing people on the planet. Missing one kneecap, she nevertheless trained to become a firefighter. Then she opened a farm sanctuary for rescued animals. Now she runs marathons to raise money, while also fighting fires!
- Jade Konkel-Roberts, a vegan Scottish rugby player, who has played at national level for over 10 years. In her ‘other life’, she’s a serving firefighter.
Upcycled accessories that help firefighters
Elvis & Kresse is a fashion brand that makes luxury accessories (wallets, belts, keyrings and overnight bags etc) made from upcycled red or yellow firehose. This heroic hose has been retired after years of use. But rather than going to landfill, this company upcycles it into new uses.
The entire firehose range is all vegan-friendly. And 50% of profits go to the Firefighter’s Charity, which does wonderful work helping serving and retired crew.
