North Belfast high-rise flat tenants have welcomed a new Fire and Rescue Service safety initiative.

The initiative will see 'Fire Key Boxes' installed in the communal entrance hall of nine blocks of flats at New Lodge and Mount Vernon.

The Fire Key Boxes can only be accessed by the Fire and Rescue Service and are designed to ensure, that in the event of a fire, the attending crew has immediate access to communal areas and lifts, and other information needed to help them deal quickly and efficiently with the incident.

The NI Housing Executive's Jim Rafferty said "The provision of the Fire Key Boxes is the latest in a series of innovative ideas which have come to fruition because of the excellent relationship that has developed between the North Belfast Concierge Services Team and the Fire and Rescue Service in our joint quest to improve fire safety standards in high rise blocks in North Belfast."

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Other fire safety initiatives installed in the flats have included the provision of marker plates. To the casual observer the Marker Plates mean very little but, like the Fire Key Boxes, they are an invaluable tool in helping the Fire and Rescue Service.

Lenny Entwistle, District Fire Commander for North and West Belfast and High Rise Project Team Leader, said: "Firefighting in high rise buildings poses many operational challenges to the Fire and Rescue Service.

"The simple but effective measures introduced, will improve our service delivery, by providing easy access to essential keys, providing crucial information relating to water supplies, lifts and building layout. This will save vital time in the early stages of any incident allowing our crews to set up a faster fire attack," added Commander Entwistle.

(PR/JM)