Dundee fire crews are dealing with an “alarming” escalation of bonfire calls ignited by the run-up to Guy Fawkes Night.
Firefighters have witnessed the number of such incidents more than triple over the past fortnight, extinguishing 49 small open fires last week compared to just 15 the week before.
Since Sunday they have attended over 40 similar scenes and have faced the added hazard of coming under attack by a group of youths.
Group manager at Macalpine Fire Station Martin Tait said the increase was an unfortunate consequence of Guy Fawkes festivities as the UK braces itself for bonfire night on November 5. While these types of ‘secondary’ callouts are generally easy to deal with, Mr Tait said they were a “huge strain” on resources.
He said, “It is alarming that on the week commencing September 27 there were 14 secondary fires, the week commencing October 4, 15 secondary fires and then 49 in the week commencing October 11.
“We are tied up with these incidents at this time of year. If there is something very serious like a road traffic collision and we are dealing with a secondary fire it can delay our response time.
“Historically this is a very busy period for us but we are doing all we can to prevent them.”
Firefighters in Dundee have been working with community safety officers and police to try to address the problem.
“We engage with schools, deliver talks and let children know about the possible consequences of their actions,” Mr Tait added.
“A small fire in a bin adjacent to a house could spread with devastating results. A group of youths can light a small fire then leave the site only for it to be discovered by a young child who seriously harms his or herself.
“We have been committed to reducing the figures year on year and generally over the last few bonfire nights the numbers have dropped. Community wardens have been running patrols and we even have a bonfire task force set up to help prevent these sort of fires.”
On Wednesday, The Courier joined an appliance from Kingsway, which was called to a secondary fire in Whitfield at around 7.30pm.
After dealing with the small bonfire beside the skate park off Whitfield Drive, firefighters noticed another 100 yards away.
Watch manager Bryan Nelson said, “These fires are generally on the decrease and I hope we can put some of that down to the preventative work we do.
“However, the numbers of these types of fires rise around Guy Fawkes Night and this is the third Kingsway have had to deal with this evening.
“The message we are trying to get across is that if we are out dealing with a burning pile of rubbish there could be a house fire somewhere and a life could be lost.
“It is estimated that it costs the taxpayer around £2000 every time one appliance attends a secondary fire and last year approximately £2 million was spent on secondary fires in Tayside.”
Mr Nelson added that their fire engine had come under siege on Old Glamis Road after they were called to a secondary fire on Monday night. Around six youngsters thought to be around 12 years of age threw stones and pointed laser pens at their vehicle.