Alarm plea after 10th fatal fire

Fire chiefs said there was 'no excuse' not to have a smoke alarm

North Wales fire officers have urged people to install smoke alarms, following another death in in a house fire at the weekend.

There was no alarm fitted at the scene of the latest fatal fire, at Minffordd, near Bangor, Gwynedd, which started in unattended cooking.

Ten people have now died in the region in accidental house fires since April.

This is significantly higher than in other areas - with one death in south Wales and none in mid and west Wales.

In the wake of Sunday's death of a 26-year-old man at around 1130 GMT, the fire service issued a fresh appeal for people to install smoke alarms and observe fire safety measures.

We have appealed to the community over and over again to work with us to safeguard their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Assistant chief fire officer Paul Claydon

Crews were called to two other weekend house fires - in Wrexham and Pwllheli in Gwynedd - where smoke alarms activated and led to people being rescued without any serious injuries.

But in the third fire at Minffordd no alarm was installed.

Gary Brandrick, development manager with North Wales Fire Service, said: "When examining the circumstances involved with these three serious incidents it is again evident that a smoke alarm can save lives.

"Every day we are continuously emphasising the messages about the benefits of installing and maintaining smoke alarms.

The fire service will install smoke alarms if necessary

"The sequence of unfortunate events has highlighted the need for these potentially life-saving lessons to be learnt and adhered to as smoke alarms can and do save lives, as has been demonstrated in Pwllheli and Wrexham."

Mr Brandrick said there was "no excuse" for anyone in north Wales not to have smoke alarms as they offered a free home fire safety check for everyone, even installing the smoke alarms where necessary.

Officers said it was "extremely distressing" for them to be faced once again with loss of life caused by fire.

Assistant chief fire officer Paul Claydon said:"This is the tenth death in an accidental dwelling fire since April 2006, and we have appealed to the community over and over again to work with us to safeguard their lives and the lives of their loved ones."

Among those to die in house fires in north Wales over the last nine months were two brothers aged three and four at a flat at Llanfaethlu on Anglesey last September.