It is surprising and disappointing that, according to official figures, smoke alarm ownership in West Yorkshire stands at only 35 per cent. How many lives are lost each year to fire? How many homes are gutted? How much misery is caused?

And in many cases this is because people did not receive an early warning of the sort which this summer led to the rescue of a Shipley pensioner from her flat after a neighbour heard the alarm.

There are plenty of other examples of alarms preventing tragedy. So the low level of ownership comes as a shock, considering that an alarm costs only a few pounds - little more, in fact, than the cost of a packet of the cigarettes which are often to blame for fires in the home.

That said, it is good news that £43,000 is being set aside to boost the installation of domestic smoke alarms by about a third in 1999/2000. On top of that, £20,000 will be used to maintain the alarms and fund fire education.

This is an important step in the right direction towards the West Yorkshire Fire & Civil Defence Authority's goal of having a smoke alarm in every house in the county.

There is still a long way to go, but this latest cash injection will give a welcome boost to the authority's campaign. Many of the alarms are provided free. However, given the modest cost of them, there is nothing to stop those householders who can afford it providing their own to help the authority to reach its goal even sooner.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.