APPS are often used to solve everyday problems such as checking the weather or finding out a song name, however the fire service has urged residents to download one in particular that could prove life-saving in an emergency situation.

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS) began to implement What3Words in August and has already put it to use to track a forest fire. The app, created by private developers in 2013, has a geo-coding system that locates a downloaded device within a three square metre grid, which can then be sent to another app user.

Peter Davis, head of control at the Joint Communications Centre in St Asaph, said that NWFRS is joining emergency services across the UK to promote the app because it can “make a big difference in times of need”.

He said: “The smartphone user will identify from the app which three words are the unique identifier for the location and it is then possible for others to identify their location once these words are conveyed.”

The fire service already had tracking technology including standard gazetteers and mapping, however the new app can be used when 999 callers do not know their coordinates.

What3Words has previously assisted North Yorkshire firefighters to find a woman who crashed her car and did not know where she was, while Humberside Police even resolved a hostage situation when the victim was able to inform officers of her location.

Mr Davis said that NWFRS used the app “within a few weeks of going live”, to pinpoint the map reference of a fire at Gwydr Forest, “ensuring that the correct appliance was mobilised to deal with the incident as quickly as possible”.

He added: “This is very useful for places that do not have a recognised address or for individuals that are lost or are unsure of their location.”