By Catherine Salmond
The Evening News
EDINBURGH, Scotland — It is the time of year that fills firefighters with dread. Illegal bonfires, out of control fireworks and yobs who shower them with abuse for “spoiling their fun” — it all adds up to a nightmare for fire crews across the Lothians.
And so far this year has lived up to expectations.
Firefighters have revealed how they were called out to 30 unsupervised bonfires in the space of seven days across the Lothians — and suffered abuse in the process from children as young as five.
As Guy Fawkes Night approaches — and months after the death of city firefighter Ewan Williamson — fire chiefs are pleading with youngsters to respect members of an emergency service who put their lives at risk to save others.
Mike Jaffray, from the Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service community safety team, said: “We’re quite often attacked when we go out on jobs around this time of year. I think people believe we are spoiling their fun.
“I remember an incident when we attended a bonfire in the city. There was nobody around, but as we were putting it out we heard noises. Suddenly, we were getting pelted with stones from all directions. One hit the windscreen of the fire engine, smashing it.
“We’re not trying to spoil people’s fun, but if we get called to an unsupervised bonfire, we have to be responsible — we’re just doing our job.”
Last week in Leith, firefighters were attacked when they visited the same area five times in six days, after youths — some thought to be as young as five — repeatedly built bonfires on waste ground at the back of Henderson Gardens, created from wooden pallets they had scavenged and stockpiled. Neighbours have spoken of their shock at watching the youngsters then empty residents’ recycling bins on the flames to further fuel the blaze — as well as abuse firefighters as they tackled it.
On the first occasion firefighters were called to the site the police had to be called, as the group of youths became abusive.
Youths in the area also set fire to equipment in the children’s play park in Henderson Gardens last week, damaging a newly painted boat that had been put there for use by all the community. And a young boy was seen setting off fireworks, shooting them at friends in the park.
The Evening News has already reported on a play park in Craigmillar, where a group of youths — again thought to include five-year-olds — started ten bonfires in the past fortnight.
Boys and girls up to the age of around 16 deliberately started the fires on Castleview Grove, ruining patches of grass by igniting household furniture, mattresses, food and newspapers. A fire service spokeswoman confirmed both areas in Craigmillar and Leith had proved a “persistent problem” over the last fortnight, while residents said they were shocked parents were allowing their children to behave in such a way.
The spokeswoman said: “We would like to remind parents to speak to their children about fire safety, especially in the run-up to Bonfire Night, and also to remind them of the pressure that crews are already under, without having to deal with these continuous malicious fires.”
Despite the troubles crews faced this week, call-outs during the Bonfire Night period have dropped dramatically in the last two years. In 2007, there were 2,244 calls to the service from 31 October to 7 November, yet only 833 the following year. On 5 November itself, crews responded to 909 calls in 2007, yet just 371 in 2008.
Fire chiefs believe the drop in calls can be attributed to a closer working partnership with the police — who also attend call-outs — allowing safety messages to be better delivered in communities.
Geoff Aird, community safety manager, said: “We also had a helping hand from the wet weather, which kept the number of fires down last year.
“In a bid to continue this trend, we’ve been delivering fire safety information and advice to schools, shops selling fireworks and the public, to highlight the dangers associated with fireworks and unsupervised bonfires. At this time of year, the fire service is regularly called out to extinguish uncontrolled or badly sited bonfires, putting pressure on resources for more serious incidents where life-saving equipment is really needed.”
In 2008 there were more than 2,100 deliberate fires recorded in Edinburgh - an average of more than 38 a week.
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