Measures to reduce number of deliberate fires proving effective

Efforts to reduce the number of deliberate fires linked to antisocial behaviour in Perth and Kinross are having an impact on the problem.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) latest quarterly performance report, which was presented to the council’s community safety committee, revealed the number of secondary fires, or outdoor and rubbish, dropped slightly from 33 to 29 compared to the same period last year.

Rab Middlemiss, SFRS group manager for Perth and Kinross, said: “These types of fires are often linked to antisocial behaviour within our communities and reducing the number of fires and this type of behaviour is an ongoing priority.

“Positive community engagement was particularly effective in the North Muirton area of Perth where we saw an increase in the number of secondary fires.

“We referred this to our community safety team, leading to more community safety warden patrols in the area which resulted in these incidents stopping in the latter half of June.

“Firefighters trained in counselling fire-setters continue to make interventions where appropriate and necessary in an attempt to prevent this type of challenging behaviour.

“This is intended to further reduce these types of fires to continually improve the safety of our communities.”

The number of accidental fires in non-domestic properties rose from 12 to 20 compared to the same period last year. Premises ranged from retail shops to agricultural buildings.

Mr Middlemiss said such fires had an impact on the local business sector, sometimes resulting in significant monetary loss and loss of jobs.