(Credit: DVIDSHUB)
Fire and Rescue teams across South Yorkshire have appealed to for public help in cracking down on arson by reporting deliberate fires to a new dedicated fire line.
South Yorkshire have begun working with FireStoppers after 3945 deliberate blazes were started in the county over the last year.
Figures show that Doncaster had the highest number of these fires with 1116 set, followed by Rotherham with 1053, Barnsley with 989 and Sheffield with 787.
FireStoppers is an arm of UK charity Crimestoppers which allows the pubic to anonymously report information on deliberate fires which is then used in fire and police investigations.
The fire service hopes this new tactic will help reduce call-outs, protect public property, keep people safe and safeguard the environment
Deputy Head of the Police and Fire Community Safety Team, Matt Gillatt said: “We’ve made great strides in terms of reducing house fires over the last 10 years, but nearly 4000 deliberate fires in one year is 4000 too many.
“We want to show people that we are taking this issue seriously and we also felt we needed to provide people a safe, anonymous route to report details of arson attacks to us.
“Other fire services across the country have successfully reduced deliberate fire setting by up to 20 percent through this service, and we’re hoping it will have a positive impact here.
“Our ask of the public is simple – if you know anything about deliberate fire-setting in your area then please report it via the FireStoppers line and help us crack down on these fires.”
FireStoppers can be reached by calling 0800 169 5558, or by using the online form: www.firestoppersreport.co.uk.
