Fire chiefs have hailed the success of a massive safety campaign.

Their efforts to concentrate on fire safety have seen a massive fall in the number of call-outs for 999 crews in West Yorkshire.

And there has also been a big reduction in the number of arson cases and of false alarms.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s work to cut emergency call-outs by making home safety visits has paid off.

Extensive prevention work carried out by firefighters and safety staff in communities across the county has resulted in the brigade seeing its total number of incidents falling from 34,270 in 2009/10 to 21,400 in 2014/15, a drop of 37%.

Arson has almost halved during the past five years (10,897 in 2009/10 to 5,499 in 2014/15), malicious false alarms have more than halved (713 in 2009/10 to 329 in 2013/14) and road traffic collisions attended by firefighters have reduced from 1,060 to 640.

The brigade has carried out 343,112 home fire safety checks since April 2009.

Asst Chief Officer Dave Walton, said: “These figures are a glowing example of how we are committed to making West Yorkshire safer. Prevention is at the heart of everything we do and with every smoke alarm installed, each school we visit and gala we attend to spread safety advice, we are saving lives.

West Yorkshire Fire Authority chairman Clr Judith Hughes

“However, we will not rest on our laurels because there is still much work to do and we are determined to drive down these figures even more.”

Clr Judith Hughes, of Kirklees, has just been re-elected as chair of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority and said: “These figures speak for themselves.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has a very determined and forward-thinking workforce who are committed to making the county a safe place to live and work.”

The brigade received an average of 22 compliments each month last year and a total of 43 complaints during the past 12 months.

In all the brigade received 269 compliments. Most were received following incidents attended by firefighters, or fire safety information given in the community. With 11 of the compliments, cash gifts totalling £720 were given and passed on to The Fire Fighters Charity.

The brigade recorded 43 complaints during 2014/15 , down from 70 the previous year.