Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service - Safety at home

Most fires in the home start accidentally and the effects of these can be devastating. It's important you know how to reduce the chances of a fire starting in your home to help keep yourself, your family and your property safe from fire.

Safe and Well Visits are to help people live independently and deal with any potential fire hazards in their homes.

During the visit, we will carry out a home fire safety assessment, where we can help you design a fire escape plan so that you and your family will know how to react and escape if you have a fire.

Our Safe and Well Visit will be a telephone call to you, asking questions about your current household situation and a fire safety assessment. This will help us to find out if there are any potential hazards and vulnerabilities in your home, then we will give you advice about how to keep you and your family Safe and Well.

If it's determined that a face-to-face visit would be more beneficial to your individual circumstances, this can be arranged after the initial phone call assessment.

We may also fit a 10 year powered sealed cell smoke detector free of charge after we have given you the fire safety information.

We will also provide an additional health questionnaire with simple questions on social wellbeing, preventing slips, trips and falls at home, and advice on where to get further support if you want to stop smoking or reduce your alcohol consumption.

Have you had a Safe and Well Visit from Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service? Please complete a survey to provide your feedback.

To carry out a fire risk assessment on your home, or someone who you think might be at risk, please use this free online service SafeLincs home fire safety check tool if its needed we will contact you to arrange your free home visit. 

If you are not able to access the online tool please contact us by

If you are from an agency and you are referring an individual to us, please complete the SafeLincs home fire safety check tool but say which agency you are from.

For any further fire safety advice please see the links on the left of this page or visit Fire Kills

If you have had a Home Fire Safety Check or Safe and Well Visit from Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service and your smoke alarm has stopped working, please contact Fire Angel on 0800 141 2561, from Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm, or send an email to technicalsupport@fireangeltech.com. They will arrange for a replacement smoke alarm to be delivered through the post. You would need to quote the serial and batch number from the back of your defective smoke alarm.

If you would like to request a Fire Safety at Home leaflet in another language, email fireservice.support@cumbria.gov.uk with the language you require.

British sign language video

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service recognise that price rises for fuel and food may lead to people having to make difficult choices to meet rising costs. What we don't want is for these choices to place you at greater risk from fire or Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

Are there fire risks in your home?Spot them using our Online Home Fire Safety Check

Alarms save lives - but only if they are working:

It is crucial that people have working smoke alarms in their home, we recommend at least one on each level of your home. Where there is a heating appliance which is not electric, we also recommend installing a carbon monoxide alarm. It is the only way to detect the colourless, odourless toxic gas which can be given off by fires, boilers, or other non-electrical appliances.

If people can only heat a single room, it is so important that this room has a working smoke and carbon monoxide alarm. 

Both smoke and carbon monoxide alarms should be regularly tested to ensure they are always working, we recommend at lead once a week.

Don't risk your loved ones lives to cut costs:

With living costs rising, everyone is looking for ways to save some money. However, there are some areas where a saving could be a fire risk. Let's make positive changes that help our finances but don't put our families and homes in danger.

Other possible causes of harm are:

  • Do not tamper with gas or electrical meters - this is illegal and very dangerous.
  • Check your heating and electrical appliances are in good working order and not subject to product recall. You can sign up to product recalls and alerts on the Gov.UK website: www.gov.uk/guidance/product-recalls-and-alerts.
  • If you plan to recommission and old fireplaces, it will need checked and swept by a competent person - otherwise it could lead to a fire or CO poisoning.

Important: 

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service will never ask you for any financial details or for a fee, our service is free!

If you are ever in doubt about the call, hang up the phone and call our freephone number (0800 358 4777) or one of our Fire Stations to confirm whether it was us that called you.

If we do come and visit you, all of our staff are in full uniform and carry photo ID. There will also be a Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service vehicle nearby.