A campaign tackling deliberate fires in Harworth this year
has resulted in a sharp drop in the number of fires in the area.
In May this year it was raised by
the local authority, District Prevention Officer Simon Cookson and crews that
Harworth and Bircotes had a rising problem in deliberate fires.
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service as a whole attended
170 secondary fires in May alone, with Harworth having the highest amount of
deliberate fires in the county.
This was an alarming figure and led to the Service forming
a partnership with Bassetlaw District Council and Nottinghamshire Police to
tackle the issue at hand.
All three organisations came together forming a campaign to
attempt to extinguish the harsh impacts of deliberate fires upon the Harworth
community.
The campaign involved working with local media, circulating
messages within the local area and campaigning digitally and relied on the
collaborative work of all three partners to raise awareness about the
seriousness of deliberate fires.
After implementing the campaign in Harworth deliberate
fires are down to seven between the period of September to October compared to
15 in July and August when we first started to roll out the campaign.
Station Manager Stan Copson said: “This is a timely
reminder to residents not only in Harworth but across the whole of
Nottinghamshire that deliberate fires have significant impacts. Fires set
purposefully can ruin the environment, cause breathing problems for locals and
add unnecessary demand upon the Fire Service.
“Thanks to the hard work of each organisation we have
managed to squash the amount of deliberate fire setting in the Harworth and
Bircotes community. I hope that these figures remain low and we can continue to
spread awareness of the dangers and impacts deliberate fire setting has upon
the communities.”
Cllr Julie Leigh, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods at
Bassetlaw District Council, said: “Over the summer we saw first-hand the negative effects
that deliberate secondary fires can have on a community. So it is extremely
encouraging that the Harworth and Bircotes community have taken these messages
on board, in addition to those around fly-tipping and are helping to prevent
the fuel for secondary fires being dumped in the first place.
“We hope that this downward trend can continue and that
residents continue to be a positive force in tackling and preventing
fly-tipping and secondary fires.”
Neil Bellamy, District Commander for Bassetlaw, said: “We’re
glad to see a sharp fall in deliberate fires in the area and to be supporting
our partners during this campaign.
“People behind these incidents often think of it as a bit of a
joke but they could very quickly become much more serious and can be
detrimental to the landowners.
“We won’t tolerate it in our area and will continue to keep
raising awareness and keep an eye out for any further issues.”