NEIGHBOURS of a Fleetwood man who nearly lost his life in a fire were given safety advice by firefighters during a 'hot strike' outside the man's home on Friday.

The Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service parked a drop-in centre on the port's Radcliffe Road, outside the scene of last Wednesday's fire (December 3), to get residents thinking about fire safety.

The centre, which can also double as emergency accommodation after a house fire, housed officers of the community safety fire service team as they met the public, gave advice, and took requests for home visits and free smoke alarms.

"The hot strike has been developed to get to those people that are hard to reach. It's making the best of a bad situation," said Bryn Bimpson, task force team leader.

"What we find is that if you put an article in the paper people that are already safety conscious will read it.

"It's the people that don't come forward, like the gentleman in this incident, that are the ones that we really need to get hold of."

Parking the drop in centre outside a house or flat where there's been a fire can bring local fire crews scores of referrals, mainly requests for smoke alarms, in just one day.

"It's in the forefront of people's minds that it can happen, because it's happened just down the street," said task force team member Michael Lee.

"The message we are giving is fit smoke alarms because they can help save lives and have a fire plan so you know what to do if you hear the smoke alarm going off."

Residents should also get into a pre-bedtime routine including checking for dangers such as cigarette stubs or candles that have not properly been put out, he said.

Officers believe the Radcliffe Road fire, from which one man was rescued and had to be resuscitated, was probably caused by discarded smoking materials.

The four strong full-time task force has been operating throughout Lancashire for about 18 months.

The last 'hot strikes' on the Fylde Coast took place after two incidents in June last year.

Three children died in a house fire at Boothroyden, North Shore and two people died in a caravan fire at Lamaleach Caravan Park.

"If you walk down a street knocking on doors a lot of people won't open the door to you. But people will see the drop-in centre and wonder what it is, and the word spreads," said Mr Lee.