ELDERLY residents in Horwich who do not have a smoke detector fitted in their homes are being urged to apply.

Local firemen have joined forces with Horwich Town Council and the Rotary Club to ensure that all over 60s in the town have the protection of a smoke alarm.

Horwich firemen have been working for the past year providing smoke detectors and fitting them for people who are unable to do the job themselves.

Now thanks to a donation of £1,000 from the town council and help in fitting them from Horwich Rotary, it is hoped that all those needing detectors will have them installed by the new year. Every year about 600 people die in fires in the home, nationally, and 56 per cent of those deaths occuring among the elderly who are the most vulnerable. In the event of a fire a smoke detector should give early enough warning for people to get out of the house while it is still safe.

Firefighters from Horwich are fitting detectors in their spare time and between emergency calls and other work. There had been a huge demand for detectors under the scheme but a massive rise in the number of fire calls last summer created a backlog.

This has been reduced and firemen are now looking for the remaining elderly people who have not yet applied.

The scheme is open to people over 60 and covers the Horwich area. Anyone who qualifies should contact the Fire Service's Moor Lane Divisional Headquarters on Bolton 382833.

Those people who can fit the detector themselves can call into the Bolton station to pick one up and receive instructions on how and where to fit it.

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