A local heating fuel merchant in South Gwynedd has joined forces with North Wales Fire and Rescue Service staff to help ensure his customers are kept warm and safe this winter.

Corris based Huw Thomas of J H Jones and Sons (Barmouth Calor Centre) Ltd has joined forces with local firefighters in a bid to help residents realise the
importance of keeping safe from fire in the home. He will be delivering special
'Keep safe this winter' leaflets, detailing the importance of working smoke
alarms and basic fire safety rules to more than 1000 customers as he delivers
heating fuels to their homes over the winter months.

Huw, who runs the family owned business with his father Gareth and wife Rachel, explained: "Many of our customers live in remote areas, quite far from their local fire station - so its important that they have an early warning should
the worst happen and a fire breaks out in their home. We want to keep our
customers warm but as a family run business we're also concerned with their
safety - and letting them know about the free smoke alarms fitted by the fire
and rescue service as well as giving them useful advice on how to stay safe
seems a great way to do this."

The partnership came about after John Paul Williams, Home Safety Support Worker for South Gwynedd from North Wales Fire and Rescue Service approached Huw to ask about the possibility of working together to help get vital safety information out into the community.

John Paul explained: "Huw's company deliver fuel across South Gwynedd, often to very remote properties. We want all residents to be safe and take advantage of our free home fire safety checks -and getting the information out into our rural
communities about  this potentially life saving service is vital. The booklets also feature advice on safety in the home which can help fires from breaking out. We're very grateful to Huw and the company for agreeing to work in partnership on this initiative."

Huw added: "We're proud to be working with North Wales Fire and Rescue Service to keep our customers as safe as possible, and look forward to working in partnership in the future."

For more advice on fire safety and for the opportunity to have free smoke alarms fitted in your home, please contact North Wales Fire and Rescue Service for a free home fire safety check. To register, please call our free 24 hour hotline on 0800 169 1234 or visit www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk or text 88365, ensuring you prefix your message with the word HFSC.