Deliberate fire incidents in Falkirk rose by a third during pandemic

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Falkirk district saw deliberate fire-setting increase by 31 per cent last year with grass fires and wheelie bins the main targets for anti-social behaviour.

In the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's annual report to Falkirk Council 's Scrutiny Committee, members heard that 2021/22 has seen 124 more deliberate fires than the previous year.

Nearly half of the 518 deliberate fires involved grassland/woodland/scrub areas (43 per cent), while there were 75 wheelie bins set on fire (14 per cent) as well as 65 other refuse fires that accounted for 12 per cent. Read more: Falkirk Council's 'net zero' plans at risk due to lack of funding Of the 518 deliberate fires, 400 were classed as 'secondary fires', which means there was no threat to people or property.There were also 118 incidents (23 per cent) classed as primary fires, involving outdoor sheds, outbuildings and light vehicles.A senior officer from the fire service said that the deliberate fire-setting was "anti-social behaviour, predominantly by youths".Group Commander Steve Michie admitted that the figures were "significantly higher this year" but added that there had been a similar increase nationally.He said that "face to face, direct, positive interventions" had been minimal during the Covid-19 pandemic and he believed that had had an impact.Group Commander Michie told members that the brigade is now getting back into nurseries, schools and youth clubs to rebuild relationships that were badly affected by Covid-19 and all the restrictions around it."The last two years, during Covid, it has been very difficult to engage with who we see as our key audience when we want to get that safety message out around positive behaviours and responsible citizenship," he said."We've