Firefighters fear surge in accidental house fires as people look to heat homes amid cost of living

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service's chief fire officer Rob Barber issued the warning and urged people to reduce costs but not "at the expense of your own life" or others.

It comes as the average energy bills look set to rise despite Government intervention – with more people turning their eye to other ways of heating their homes, fire chiefs say.

Mr Barber said: "We are expecting accidental house fires will increase this year as people make changes to their behaviour and the way they heat their homes.

"We have a number of concerns which range from people huddling too close to open fires, electrical heaters being used to dry clothes, individuals throwing anything that will burn into wood burners and even camping stoves being used indoors.

“Unfortunately more fires increases the likelihood of more injuries and sadly the potential for more deaths. We appreciate people need to make changes to how they use energy in order to reduce costs but we’d urge people not to do that at the expense of your own life and that of others. You can reduce your energy bill without having to resort to unsafe practices.”

The fire service will be teaming up with other organisations to support schemes which will help low-income households by providing them equipment to allow them to keep warm. And heating homes safely will be a focus of the Safe and Well visits carried out by fire staff in the homes of vulnerable people on a daily basis.

The fire chief added: "The easiest and most effective thing you can do to reduce your risk is to check you have working smoke alarms on each floor of your property, to increase your protection further ensure you have a carbon monoxide detector fitted.

"If you have an open fire get the chimney swept ahead of needing to use it this winter and use seasoned logs with the 'Safe to Burn' logo that won’t spit. Open fires also need guards and avoid huddling too close to them, sadly we have had a number of fire deaths caused by open fires. The same goes for portable heaters, don’t get too close to them and ensure they are a safe distance away from other materials.”