Almost 3,000 fires deliberately started despite safety campaign
FIREFIGHTERS had to deal with 3,000 deliberate fires last year with the majority causing major damage to fields and the countryside.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service figures were branded “absolutely unacceptable” by fire chiefs as they show little change from the same time last year, despite major safety campaigns.
The new figures come as one firefighting farmer, Stewart Macpherson from Foyers ininverness-shire called for caution over the “potentially devastating” use of heat lamps in sheds and barns ahead of the spring lambing season.
He said: “Farmers and crofters will continue to use these devices, that’s not debatable, but I would urge caution, and for anyone using these heat sources to take simple but hugely effective measures to reduce the risk of fire.”
The fire toll also threatened lives. One blaze was caused by lit bottles of flammable liquid being thrown through two properties in Glenrothes, Fife, which left one teenager seriously injured.
In December, Naveed Iqbal, 34, of Leven, was jailed for 16 years at Glasgow High Court for attempted murder in connection with the blazes.
They also include a major fire at the Toys R Us store in the Kingway West Retail Park in Dundee and a blaze that damaged several properties in Main Street and Academy Street, Coatbridge.
The fire service said they had dealt with a total of 2,782 such blazes across the country between March and April 2017 – 48 fewer than the same period in 2016.
Assistant Chief Officer David Mcgown the service’s director of prevention and protection said: “These figures are absolutely unacceptable.
“Firefighters exist to protect their communities and yet they are being put at risk by a very small minority of people within those communities who deliberately set fires.
“Let’s be very clear – fire can cause injury, damage properties and affect the environment, not to mention the potential impact on businesses and the economy.
“The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service therefore operates a strict zero-tolerance approach to deliberate fire raising.
“We will continue to work very closely with police and local authorities to ensure that those responsible are dealt with.”
Aberdeenshire and Moray saw the number of deliberate fires nearly treble from 23 to 68, in East Lothian, Midlothian and the Scottish Borders it more than doubled from 84 to 176.
In Fife, which was flagged as an area of concern last year locally with deliberate fire setting rising by five per cent, the numbers nearly doubled from 89 to 161.
In East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and Renfrewshire, the number of deliberate fires fell from 368 to 230, in North Lanarkshire it dipped from 415 to 308 while in Glasgow it dropped from 505 to 416.
Mr Mcgown spoke out ahead of a spring safety campaign to warn firefighters will continue to work closely with police to identify those responsible.
He added: “It goes without saying that we prefer to prevent fires – not fight fires.”
A strict zero tolerance approach to deliberate fire raising