A COUNCILLOR who suffered a Christmas Day blaze at her home has joined forces with firefighters to find new ways to offer elderly residents safety advice.

Pensioners are the most “at risk” group when it comes to house fires.

All five deaths in Lancashire this year have involved people over the age of 60.

This includes 67-year-old Dorothy Clarke, who died at her home in Coal Clough Lane, Burnley, on January 21.

County Coun Dorothy Westell, the Lancashire Combined Fire Authority Member Champion for Older People, held a workshop with 50 firefighters from 30 stations to tackle the problem.

Coun Westell, 75, opened the event by telling officers about her own experience of having a fire at her Clayton-le-Moors home on Christmas Day.

She had left a candelabra unattended in the dining room while going to watch television in the lounge, when it melted down and set fire to a table cloth.

She said: "The sound of the fire alarm alerted us and we were able to put it out ourselves.

“I had no idea that as an older person, living alone I was more at risk of fire.

"Fire is something you think about but don’t think will ever happen to you.

"But it did happen to me, which is why I’m working to help the service look at new ways of getting fire safety messages across to older people."

She added: “As people get older it can be hard to change the habits of a lifetime but a few simple things, like knowing where your keys are and closing all doors at night, can really help.

"It’s also vital that older people have a free home fire safety check.”

Assistant chief fire officer Peter O’Brien said: “Being older is not a risk in itself — this comes largely from the circumstances people may find themselves in when they get older, for example living alone or with impairment.

“But the sad fact is that older people are more likely to be harmed by fire, either through death, injury or their ability to recover physically and mentally. This year all five fire deaths in Lancashire have been people over the age of 60.

"This isn’t unique to Lancashire — the pattern is repeated right across the country."