Firefighters tackle four blazes in just three hours

FIREFIGHTERS responded to a “spate” of incidents — attending four blazes within a two-mile radius in the space of just three hours.

Officers were called to tackle fires at Douglas, Caird Park, Kirkton and Downfield in quick succession late last night and into the early hours of this morning.

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service source described the call-outs as a “spate” and police are now asking anyone who witnessed any of the incidents to come forward.

The first incident was a hedge blaze at Aboyne Avenue in Douglas, close to its junction with Kemnay Gardens, at 10.50pm.

A single appliance from Kingsway East fire station attended and the blaze was extinguished using a hose reel jet.

A crew from Kingsway East was then called to Caird Park at 12.55pm following reports of flames in the park.

A small fire was extinguished by officers using buckets of water. It is thought the fire was connected to the theft of bins from Forres Avenue about 20 minutes earlier.

Just over half an hour later, at 1.30am, two wheelie bins were set on fire at the junction of Kirkton Place and Kirkton Road.

The fires were extinguished with a hose reel jet by a crew from Macalpine Road.

Just a few hundred yards away from Kirkton Place, another wheelie bin was reported to be ablaze at Americanmuir Road at 1.55pm.

A crew from Macalpine Road used a hose reel jet to dampen the flames.

All four fires took place within a twomile radius and in the space of three hours. A route between the sites can be walked in just over an hour.

A Police Scotland spokesman said the force had been called out to Aboyne Avenue and Kirkton Place but had not received any calls about Caird Park and Americanmuir Road.

He added: “It has been brought to our attention that there may have been other similar incidents in these general areas which happened last night and have not as yet been reported to us.

“We would like to ask anyone who witnessed an incident of this kind on the evening of Sunday May 6 and the early hours of Monday May 7 to contact us on 101.”