EXCLUSIVE: The fire service now logs emergency incidents suspected as being 'cost of living-related' and described a dangerous homemade heater and fake batteries
Households and families across Greater Manchester are risking their lives to heat their homes and cook food during the cost of living crisis, a new report reveals, prompting an urgent warning from fire chiefs.
The report presented to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority revealed there were 17 incidents between October, when the fire service altered its recording systems to log incidents, and December. Of those, seven were said to involve 'unsafe or unusual heating practices', the GMCA was told, with a further six incidents recorded overall this month.
"Whilst the numbers are comparatively low, we can see patterns emerging, for example there were three incidents caused by unsafe or unusual heating practices recorded in November and four incidents of this nature recorded in December." Figures for January have not been revealed. "The incidents reflected are based on the subjective judgement of the crews attending the incident and are recorded as either a 'yes', whereby it was clear to the crews that the incident was cost of living-related, or 'don't know', where they believe this to be the case based on something they've seen or been told but aren't as confident.
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