Campaign to tackle fires spike
CLEVELAND Fire Brigade has launched a campaign to help tackle deliberate fires as crews enter “the busiest time” of the year.
The emergency service has put in place a spring period prevention plan, which runs until the end of April, with the aim to reduce the numbers of deliberate blazes seen across Teesside.
The campaign comes after last year when, during the period from March 22 to April 28, 394 ‘secondary’ fires were recorded, which are generally small outdoor fires not involving people or property of value, of which 350 were deemed deliberate.
Hartlepool saw the highest number of such reported incidents of any district in the brigade area with 136, including 121 deliberate blazes. The three wards in the borough with the highest number of incidents were Manor House with 24, Headland and Harbour with 21, and Seaton with 18.
Specific areas impacted included Old Cemetery Road, where nine deliberate blazes occurred, Summerhill Country Park and North Gare, Tees Road, which each had five recorded incidents, and Wynyard Road with four.
Speaking at the latest meeting of Cleveland Fire Authority, Robin Turnbull,
This point of the year, it is by far, without question the busiest time for us
lead for prevention and protection, said: “We’ve had quite a few dormant months with activity through the winter.
“When we reach this time of the year, this point of the year, it is by far, without question the busiest time for us.
“We’ve had a really good year in relation to performance for deliberate fires but in light of heading into an expected really busy period of activity, it’s just important that we push our spring campaign.”
He also mentioned that there has been an 18% decrease in deliberate primary fires and a 36% fall in deliberate secondary fires this year compared to last year.
As part of the spring campaign, firefighters and education officers will visit schools in areas where fires are common to talk about the dangers of starting fires on purpose.
Other activities include providing community skips and asking crews to report fly-tipping to help reduce rubbish fires. They will also support local authorities with patrols in key areas. The average number of secondary fires from March 22 to April 28 over the past five years in the Cleveland area is 643, with the highest being 1,046 in 2021.
People can report information about deliberate fires anonymously by contacting FireStoppers at https://forms. theiline.co.uk/firestoppers or on 0800 169 5558.