A firefighter has warned of the dangers of deliberate fire-setting during the summer and highlighted the huge costs of tackling wheelie bin blazes.
Last year the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) attended over 140 wheelie bin fires in the West Lothian area alone.
These incidents can impact on firefighting resources and the response costs around £2000 each time.
On occasion firefighters have also had to call police after coming under attack while working to protect the community.
Watch manager Lee Clark said: “There is always a concern around any deliberate fire raising as it has the very real potential to not only cause injury but damage property, affect the environment and impact on surrounding businesses.
“While attending deliberate wheelie bin fires some of my fire and police colleagues have actually been attacked while simply trying to do their job.
“This is completely unacceptable behaviour.”
He added: “Members of the public can help us prevent rubbish fires by considering some simple but effective safety advice.
“This includes storing rubbish in a secure area if possible, not overflowing bins and refuse areas with excess rubbish, not putting bins out for emptying until the day of collection, be alert to strangers loitering in your street, report any build-up of rubbish to your local authority or community fire station.”
Lee Clark aadded: “Let me be very clear: we operate a strict, zero-tolerance approach to deliberate fire-raising.
“We will continue to work very closely with our police and local authority partners to provide evidence that will ensure those responsible are held to account.”
