Climbing numbers of house fire callouts in Whanganui are partly due to increased community awareness, the city's fire chief says.
As reported in the Chronicle on Monday, last year Whanganui firefighters received 69 house fire callouts - a sharp contrast to 2011 when there were just 30 callouts.
"I guesswhat happens, when the community becomes more aware, we get called to more fires," area commander Bernie Rush said. Mr Rush said people would often deal with small fires themselves, but as they came to understand fire safety more, they would call the fire service instead of trying to tackle the situation alone.
However, he said the number of fires also appeared to be increasing.
"The most common one is a pot left on the stove. In the days before smoke alarms, those fires would have gotten out of control."
