Deliberate fires across Falkirk rose by one third during pandemic

This anti-social behaviour across Falkirk district increased by 31 per cent last year, according to latest figures.

Now the fire chiefs say “face to face, direct, positive interventions” with young people will be used to tackle the issue.

In the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s annual report to Falkirk Council’s scrutiny committee, members heard that 2021/22 has seen 124 more deliberate fires than the previous year.

Nearly half of the 518 deliberate fires involved grassland/woodland/scrub areas (43 per cent), while there were 75 wheelie bins set on fire (14 per cent) as well as 65 other refuse fires, accounting for 12 per cent.

Of the 518 deliberate fires, 400 were classed as ‘secondary fires’, which means there was no threat to people or property.

There were also 118 incidents (23 per cent) classed as primary fires, involving outdoor sheds, outbuildings and light vehicles.

A senior officer from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) that the deliberate fire-setting was “anti-social behaviour, predominantly by youths”.

Group Commander Steve Michie admitted that the figures were “significantly higher this year” but added that there had been an increase nationally.

He said that “face to face, direct, positive interventions” had been minimal during the Covid-19 pandemic and he believed that had had an impact.

Group Commander Michie told members that the brigade is now getting back into nurseries, schools and youth clubs to rebuild relationships that were badly affected by Covid and all the restrictions around it.

“The last two years, during Covid, it has been very difficult to engage with who we see as our key audience when we want to get that safety message out around positive behaviours and responsible citizenship,” he said.

“We’ve now got all our operational fire stations and community action teams adopting both primary and secondary schools to make sure that we can catch up and start to build those positive relationships.”

Each watch in Falkirk’s fire stations has been allocated a school and tasked with arranging visits to youngsters in nursery, then P2 and P6 as well as some secondary schools.

Group Commander Michie said that the fire service has also been working closely with colleagues in other organisations including the police.

“We hope to see the fruits of that labour in the months and years to come as we build those positive relationships with young people,” he told members.

The report also showed that the service is also working with the police to tackle the problem of wheelie bins being set on fire and they are “delivering targeted patrols and engagement in known hot spot areas”.

Residents are also being urged to take bins in as quickly as possible after collection to avoid problems and in some circumstances consider locking their bins.

The annual report also showed an increase in accidental dwelling fires. These rose to 129 in 2021/22 - the highest in the past five years.

Of these, 77 involved cooking while in 49 incidents “distraction and falling asleep was identified as contributing to the cause”.

In 24 incidents, the consumption of alcohol or drugs was suspected as being a contributory factor, while careless use of smoking materials accounted for seven incidents.

For 43 of the incidents incidents there was no smoke alarm present.

However, Mr Michie stressed that while the number of fires rose, there is clear evidence that the severity of such fires is reducing and he believes “the message is getting out there”.

The figures show a decrease in casualties from house fires – with 17 people being injured in 2021/22 and just three of them needed treatment in hospital.

However, the group commander did acknowledge that there had been a fire fatality in the Falkirk North ward in 2021, after a man fell asleep while smoking.

Nine of the injuries happened while people were cooking and three “as a result of careless handling of smoking materials”.

He reassured members that the fire service was targeting the most vulnerable people to ensure that smoke alarms are fitted and support is given where needed.

“We will continue to work with partners to prevent those type of incidents, getting the right referrals to make sure we identify any vulnerable individuals,” he said.