Fire crews feel heat of jail blazes

£250,000 bill as number of call-outs to prisons hits 123

FIREFIGHTERS were called out to Scotland’s prisons 123 times last year as incidents of fire-raising soared.

Over the year 2018-19, the cost of attending jail blazes was up to £250,000.

The call-out figure, which also includes accidental fires, was up 76 per cent on the 70 in 2016-17, and a rise of more than 10 per cent on the 110 seen in 2017-18.

Councils have said that each callout costs the fire service £2,000.

Separate statistics produced by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) show that, including minor cases dealt with by prison staff, there were 119 incidents of fire-raising in 201718. This is believed to be the first time figures have passed the 100 mark in at least 15 years.

And the trend appears to have continued, with 116 incidents recorded in 2018-19.

One inmate who set his cell on fire in 2018 was given extra time in jail after admitting the offence. The court was told the prisoner smuggled lighters into the jail and set fire to clothing in a bin in his cell.

He also barricaded his door with a mattress and blocked the fire hole to prevent a hose being inserted directly into the cell. The alarm was raised after flames were spotted at the top and bottom of his cell door.

Prison staff tried to use extinguishers as firefighters attempted to flood the cell by pumping water under the door. However, both were blocked by the barricades. The fire was only put out when a sprinkler in the ceiling was activated. A sheriff who convicted the prisoner said his ‘reckless’ behaviour had put others at risk.

In 2016, firefighters and ambulance crews were called to HMP Addiewell, in West Lothian, after inmates started a riot.

Two prison officers needed hospital treatment for head and facial injuries following the disturbance.

Lothian and Borders police said up to ten prisoners were ‘actively’ involved in the riot.

Figures from the SPS last year showed the cost of inmates trashing and setting fire to cells at HMP Perth reached more than £60,000 between 2015-16 and 2018-19.

Inmates at the same jail caused damage of £30,000 in 2015-16, when rioting lags set fire to a pool table.

In September 2019, four fire engines were sent to Polmont Young Offenders Institute, in Falkirk, after a fire in a cell. One person had to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Figures released by the Scotland Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) showed there were 17 deliberate fires and 55 false alarms at HMP Grampian and Young Offender Institution in 2017. In 2018, there were 19 fires and 38 false alarms.

However, jail staff said they saw a drop in fires after certain ‘pests’ were relocated to other jails.

A spokesman for the SPS said: ‘The safety and wellbeing of those in our prisons is a priority.

‘There are more than 8,000 people in custody everyday across Scotland and, unfortunately, some of those individuals choose to set fires which the SFRS respond to.’

Attempted to flood the cell