The importance of having a working smoke alarm in Clare households is being highlighted this week.
New statistics show a marked falloff in the number of fire incidents across the county in the first eight months of this year.
The figures have been released to coincide with National Fire Safety Week which runs until Sunday.
Statistics from the Clare County Fire and Rescue Services show they were called out to 725 fire incidents from January to August last, a drop of almost 14 percent on the same figures from 2008.
However the number of chimney fire cases rose from 129 to 146, up 13 percent
The emergency services also dealt with fewer road traffic incidents and heavy rainfall resulted in fewer forest grass and bog fires.
Of the seven fire stations across Clare, call out numbers at Killaloe dropped the most by 36 percent, followed closely by Kilkee and Shannon. Scarrif dealt with 26 percent fewer cases, Ennistymon dropped by a tenth, while Ennis and Kilrush were down 7.
Welcoming the decrease in callouts Clare’s Chief Fire Officer Adrian Kelly says the focus now will be getting people to realise the importance of a working smoke alarm and is holding open information evenings at the county’s fire stations to offer advice to the public
