A fire alarm alerted the Laverton family their house was ablaze. 85450 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
A LAVERTON house fire has highlighted the importance of educating new Australian residents about fire safety.
Last week a Burmese family who recently moved to the suburb became aware their home was on fire thanks to a smoke alarm.
The blaze was caused by an electrical fault at the property.
In the middle of the night, the mother heard the home’s fire alarm sound and helped her elderly parents and two children to leave the house.
Fire crews who arrived to at the emergency scene found the group waiting for them beside the letterbox.
The Burmese mother knew what to do in the case of a fire because she had attended a presentation given by MFB multicultural liaison officer and leading fire-fighter Colin Campbell weeks earlier.
“After the talk she went home and tested her smoke alarm, then replaced the battery,” Mr Campbell said.
“She then discussed with her elderly parents and two children what to do if they ever had a fire.
“I am pleased the woman was able to take away the fire safety message from our presentation and escaped safely from what could have been a very deadly situation.”
Wyndham Community and Education Centre settlement services co-ordinator Craig Spicer said the fire safety presentations played an important part in introducing new immigrants to fire safety.
“We provide the space and an interpreter, depending on the group of residents, and an MFB fire fighter delivers the message,” he said.
“The sessions are very well-attended and I applaud the services of the MFB Multicultural Liaison Officers, on this occasion it certainly saved some lives.”
This year’s MFB and CFA Winter Fire Safety Campaign will be translated into 20 different languages. See www.homefiresafety.com.au for more information.
