Two families from Borras will be moving into new homes adapted for those with mobility issues and fitted with state of the art sprinkler systems thanks to a partnership project between North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and Wrexham County Borough Council.

Both families have children with disabilities which may affect their ability to move around their home and escape quickly in the event of a fire.

Thanks to funding from Wrexham Council and the Disabled Facilities Grants, the authority were able to convert a disused residential care home on Ffordd Dyfed, Borras into two detached bungalows suitable for families with disabled children. The bungalows have also been fitted with sprinklers funded through North Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

Mrs Tracey Samuel from one of the families who moved in last weekend said: "This house means everything to me as it will allow the children to have a normal life. I am really pleased with the sprinkler system and I think that they should be installed in more houses. I would like to thank Maelor construction for all their work here."

Chris Nott, Community Safety Manager for Wrexham and Flintshire explained: "This is the culmination of an exciting three year project with Wrexham County Borough Council and we're thrilled that by working together in this way we're helping to protect potentially vulnerable residents in Wrexham. Initiatives like this really can save lives and protecting our community is our number one priority."

Cllr Mark Pritchard, Lead Member for Housing for Wrexham County Borough Council said:

"These properties had been empty since 2009 so we are delighted that we've been able to provide these families with good quality homes that meet their needs.

"We had to navigate a few hurdles to ensure this project came to fruition so I would like to thank our housing department for their continued commitment and hard work. These properties have been fully adapted to include specialist equipment, widened doors and ground level access and this is another example of local organisations working in partnership to achieve great things."

Gary Brandrick, Senior Fire Safety Manager for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, concluded: "We're very pleased that we were able to use Community Safety funding to provide support for this initiative because of it's exceptional circumstances and we are now looking at a similar project on Ynys Môn.

"There is clear evidence that domestic sprinklers are effective in stopping fires spreading, significantly enhancing fire safety within the home and drastically reducing death and serious injury as a result of fire.Walesis leading the way through the Welsh Government on making regulations so that domestic sprinklers will be compulsory in all new and converted homes'

"Smoke detectors are a super alert system and essential to warn you there is a fire, but an integrated sprinkler system when activated,  triggers the fire alarm and begins to extinguish the fire, both alerting and protecting the occupants giving more time to escape."

To help protect residents from fires in their home, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service offer free home fire safety checks for all residents in North Wales. To request a check, phone the 24 hour hotline on 0800 169 1234, or log onto the website www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk