Published date: 24 January 2017 |
Published by: Owen EvansRead more articles by Owen Evans Email reporter
Almost £200,000 of taxpayers’ money has gone up in smoke because of idiotic firebugs.
A total of £181,974 has been forked out by North Wales Fire and Rescue Service dealing with arson attacks and malicious calls in Wrexham and Flintshire since 2013.
Crews have had to deal with almost 1,700 deliberate fires in the two counties between 2013 and 2016.
Stuart Millington, senior fire safety manager for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, slammed those setting the fires.
He said: “Deliberate fire setting is completely unacceptable –as well as the associated monetary cost, these fires put extra pressure on our resources and can put the lives of the fire crews and the public at risk.
”Whilst crews are busy dealing with these incidents they would not be able to meet what may be a real need for them to attend a life threatening situation elsewhere
“Deliberate fires remain a concern to us and that is why we are working on a number of initiatives within various communities.
“Deliberate fire setting is a serious form of anti-social behaviour, and is a criminal offence. We’re working alongside North Wales Police to tackle the issue.
“We would encourage anyone with information on arson to call 101, or crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
According to the figures, released following a Freedom of Information request by The Leader, there were 1,655 deliberate fires in the two counties between 2013 and 2016.
However, a high profile campaign to reduce arson attacks in Wrexham appears to have been somewhat successful, with the number of deliberate fires in 2016 being significantly reduced.
Despite this, 2016 saw the largest amount of money forked out to deal with the fires, with £51,819.17 spent.
Wrexham saw a total of 1,067 deliberate fires over the four-year period, while Flintshire recorded 588.
And it appears nothing is safe from the arsonists, with cars, sheds, homes and rubbish being among the items destroyed.
There were also 100 malicious calls recorded in the two counties by the fire service.
A total of 73 were recorded in Wrexham and 27 were recorded in Flintshire.
Mr Millington added: “North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is also pro- active in its efforts to reduce the number of malicious incidents or ‘hoax calls’ that firefighters attend through a scheme called ‘Call Challenging’.
“The control operator will challenge the caller if they suspect it to be a hoax call before mobilising appliances.
“Members of the public should be aware that all calls to the Fire and Rescue Service are recorded, along with the name of the caller and where they are calling from, even from a mobile phone.
“This means that there is a much greater chance of a person making a hoax call to be caught now.
“If a person is caught making a hoax call then they could face prosecution.”
He added: “Unfortunately children are often unaware how potentially dangerous these calls can be.
“Hoax calls are extremely worrying for the service as when appliances are dispatched unnecessarily, valuable resources become committed which could be needed for life-saving at other incidents.
“Making hoax calls to any emergency service is a criminal offence.
“Silent or calls reporting false details of a fire are not acceptable.
“If any one has any information about persons making malicious calls to the emergency services, they should contact the police immediately.
“The fire and rescue service is asking parents to help by making sure that they know where their children are and what they are up to during the evenings, weekends and school holidays.”
http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/171643/revealed-the-shocking-amount-of-money-wasted-due-to-arson-attacks-in-wrexham-and-flintshire.aspx
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