Friday 23rd July 2010
Today sees the launch at Clydebank Community Fire Station of a campaign to tackle deliberately set fires within West Dunbartonshire. Strathclyde Fire & Rescue and West Dunbartonshire Council are working together on a vital new initiative called the “Fire Reduction Partnership”
This partnership aims to reduce the incidence of deliberately set fires by providing an uplift service for any flammable materials which have been dumped close to or within residential properties.
A contact centre has been set up and concerned residents can call to arrange the uplift of materials that have been dumped within the vicinity of their own or neighboring properties.
CONTACT CENTRE TELEPHONE NUMBER 0800 073 8706
Area Commander David Proctor said: “Last year Strathclyde Fire and Rescue attended 13,255 incidents involving burning refuse and other similar materials, this is a huge drain on our resources and can seriously affect our ability to respond to other emergency calls. Through this initiative and others like it throughout Strathclyde we aim to drive down the number of calls we receive to attend such incidents.”
Ronnie Dinnie, Head of Land and Environment at West Dunbartonshire Council said: “West Dunbartonshire Council is very pleased to be working with the West Dunbartonshire Community Planning Partnership and Strathclyde Fire & Rescue in delivering this important community safety pilot project.
"There is no doubt that deliberate fire raising has a devastating effect on people’s lives and a negative impact on the provision of public services.
"By tackling the issue of fires associated with indiscriminately dumped waste we know that West Dunbartonshire will be a safer place.
"I would encourage residents of West Dunbartonshire to report any incidents of indiscriminately dumped flammable waste on our hotline number - 0800 073 8706."
Kate Jackson from Crimestoppers Scotland says: "The charity Crimestoppers understands that people often have difficult circumstances which prevent them from going to the police with information for example if one of their friends or family members is responsible for fire setting. Crimestoppers and the 0800 555 111 number can assist and gives people total anonymity to report these wrongdoers and help make the community a safer place. Crimestoppers is not interested in who you are, it's what you know that matters."