A blind pensioner was left standing in her front garden for four hours after her fire alarm went off – and was asked by the fire brigade if ‘there was no one else’ who could deal with her.
Seventy year old Sheila Molland, from Sandiford Crescent, got a shock last Thursday when her alarm went off and she wanted help.
After ringing the fire brigade in Shrewsbury, she was asked by the operator if ‘there was no one else’ who could turn it off.
Registered blind, Mrs Molland said she could not believe their reaction and added she could not smell smoke, but thought the emergency crew would have responded.
“It’s terribly noisy and you can’t think straight when it goes off, you get startled. And because I’m registered blind, all I can do is sniff. I really thought they would have come and checked on me.
“I couldn’t go into the house because it’s deafening.”
But after waiting in her garden for an hour and a half, Mrs Molland decided to pick up the phone again, only to get the same reaction.
“The second time I rang they said ‘have you not got a neighbour who can do it.’
“Yes, I do have a neighbour, but she’s older than I am and most of the people around here are elderly and the alarm is on the landing near the stairs, so it’s too dangerous for us.”
The ordeal ended after four hours when Mrs Molland’s family came to the rescue.
“In the end my son-in-law had to come after work and break the alarm. It was just horrendous. I know I can smell things, but it could have been something else that I didn’t know about.”
Mrs Molland said the next day someone from the fire service did come out and install a new alarm.
Charlie Cartwright, who took Mrs Molland’s call, said the service to turn off alarms is not an urgent call and added that the retained officers who fit alarms also work full time.
“There isn’t anyone in the station 24/7 so they do the alarm fitting in their spare time.
“She told me it was just beeping and I put it down as a matter of urgency. Usually it takes four to six weeks to fit a new alarm because it’s a free service, but I live in Newport so I dropped off the paperwork myself that evening and someone saw her the very next day.”
By Jason Lavan
