THE number of reported accidental house fires across the Cleveland Fire Brigade area have dropped significantly, according to the latest figures.

The Brigade recorded a 24 per cent decrease in incidents from April to October 2018 compared to the same time period in 2017.

The figures show 65 accidental fires in the selected time period in 2018, as opposed to 86 accidental fires the previous year.

Steve Johnson, the area manager for Protection and Prevention explained that people are 49 per cent less likely to have a fire in the home if they live in Cleveland than anywhere else in England.

He said: “These figures endorse the support we receive from residents in our fire safety prevention work in helping make Cleveland one of the safest places to live.

“We are committed to driving these figures down even further and look forward to the continued support of the Cleveland community and our partner organisations.”

The new data also showed a six per cent reduction in call outs over the same recorded period.

Cleveland Fire Brigade put this achievement down to the 10,600 home fire safety visits and 2,000 safe and well visits carried out by the team over the recorded time period.

The brigade also reported that more than 330 people were referred to other agencies and given extra equipment if needed to prevent home fire hazards.

According to latest figures, the brigade is the best fire service in the UK at keeping people safe in their homes and remains one of the fastest responders to house fires with the first fire engine getting to a building in an average time of 4mins 50 seconds.

However, the brigade spent the summer battling more deliberately started fires on open ground than almost anywhere else in the country, according to figures.

The statistics show that the service tackled 513 fires involving grassland, woodland and crops from May to July. Out of those, 434 were found to have been deliberately started.

The figures for the area were the seventh highest when compared against responses from 40 of 50 fire services who answered Freedom of Information requests.

For more information on fire safety you can call Cleveland Fire Brigade on 01429-872311 or visit the website at www.clevelandfire.gov.uk/home

l Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service also had a drop in accidental fires in the same time period. In July 2017 there was 51 accidental fires reported with only 40 in July 2018.

In total, Tyne and Wear had 311 accidental fires from April to October 2017, with 308 being reported in the same time period in 2018.

The report showed a decrease of 0.96 per cent.