Get your free smoke alarm today

Seven people have lost their lives in Shropshire house fires over the past 12 months.

It's the highest death toll in 13 years . . . and fire officers say several could have been avoided if the properties had been fitted with working smoke alarms.

So today, the Shropshire Star is joining forces with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service to launch a new campaign encouraging every household in the county to ensure they have a working smoke alarm.

Free alarms are being given away at seven Shropshire Star offices – Telford, Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Bridgnorth, Ludlow, Newport and Market Drayton – to local people who qualify.

They are also available from Telford or Shrewsbury fire stations, at Stafford Park or St Michaels Street.

In a chilling forecast, county fire chiefs predicted in a report last December that the next victim of a house fire in Shropshire would be an elderly woman, living alone, in a house with a smoke alarm that was probably not working.

It was likely, officers said, that the person would be dead before the fire service was alerted.

Sure enough, less than a month later, the grim prediction came true when 61-year-old Jennifer Jones lost her life in a fire in her home in Maer Lane, Market Drayton.

There were two smoke alarms in the property – but both had their batteries removed.

Deputy chief fire officer John Redmond said the 'terrible tragedy' could have been so easily avoided.

"We need people to check that their relatives, in particular elderly parents, friends and neighbours all have smoke alarms which do not have the batteries removed," he added.

The point was hammered home just days later when the lives of two pensioners in Maesbury, near Oswestry, were saved when their smoke alarms did work, and alerted neighbours to a blaze.

Phil Clarke, deputy in charge of fire prevention at Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, says: "This is yet another example of how a smoke alarm has probably saved a life."

Lone, elderly and vulnerable women – who do not have smoke alarms fitted – are seen as the most likely people to die in house fires. Pensioner

Ann Morgan and her dog Bramble became part of the death toll last September when a huge blaze engulfed their home in Ludlow.

They were pronounced dead at the scene after flames, thought to have started in the kitchen, engulfed the property in Stanton Drive without any apparent warning from a smoke alarm.

Few parts of Shropshire have not been touched by fire-related tragedies over the past year.

Andrew Lineton, 33, and his six-year-old daughter Kay-Leigh Cooke died in Brookside, Telford, while a few miles away 55-year-old Barbara Owusu was killed following a blaze at The Glebelands in Donnington.

An 80-year-old woman also lost her life in April when her static caravan caught fire at Beaconsfield Caravan Park, Upper Battlefield, Shrewsbury, and 90-year-old widow Norma Foster died from smoke inhalation at a remote cottage near Bridgnorth.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service recommends one smoke alarm should be fitted on every level of a home – and checked regularly to ensure it is working. "Family members, friends and neighbours must check that these vulnerable people are protected by smoke alarms which have working batteries fitted. It can and does save lives as has been shown by these incidents in Shropshire over the past year," adds Mr Clarke.

Today's campaign is encouraging families, friends and neighbours of potentially vulnerable people to check if their alarms meet the guidelines.

Keith Harrison, Editor of the Shropshire Star, says: "If this campaign encourages just one person to fit and maintain a smoke alarm which ends up saving their life, it will have been worthwhile.

"Statistics show that, without a working smoke alarm, you are twice as likely to die in a house fire.

"Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service works tirelessly on delivering this message across the county, and we are delighted to be able to help them by putting it at the top of our news agenda.

"Please, if you only do one thing today, either check your existing smoke alarm, or pop into one of our offices to pick one up."

How to claim your free smoke alarm

Seven Shropshire Star offices are giving away free smoke alarms to those who qualify. Priority will be given to those who are over the age of 75, with a disability or long-term sickness.

Relatives are able to collect alarms on behalf of family members. Only one alarm will be given out, per family, subject to availability. Terms and conditions apply.

TELFORD: Waterloo Road, Ketley, TF1 5HU

SHREWSBURY: 7 Bellstone, SY1 1HU

LUDLOW: The Angel, Broad Street, SY8 1NG

OSWESTRY: 14 Salop Road, SY11 2NU

MARKET DRAYTON: 81 Shropshire Street, TF9 7AL

NEWPORT: 32 St Mary Street, TF10 7AL

BRIDGNORTH: 50A High Street, WV16 4DX

Everyone issued with an alarm will be asked to fill in a contact information form. This is purely for Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service's own information purposes, and will not be shared with any other agencies for marketing purposes.

Firefighters will also be out and about this week giving out fire safety advice as part of the campaign.

In Oswestry, they be at the market, from 10am to noon on April 4, outside Clinton Cards from 1pm-3pm on April 5, and outside Sainsbury's from 11am-1pm on April 6.

In Bridgnorth, they will be under the Town Hall on April 3 or 4, and at Sainsbury's on April 5 during the afternoon.

And in Telford, teams from Telford Central and Wellington stations will be at B&Q at various times between 10.30am and 5pm on April 7 and 10.

DIY chain B&Q is also supporting the campaign, and offering discounts on a range of smoke alarms at its stores in Telford and Shrewsbury this week.