Bonfire Night crackdown hailed a success as call-outs plummet

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Fire crews in West Lothian were not called out to a single incident on Bonfire Night as moves to tackle trouble were hailed a success.West Lothian saw a 30 per cent drop in deliberate fires and a 45 per cent drop in deliberate rubbish blazes over the bonfire period last year compared to 2021.Area Commander Kenny Barbour said fire crews had not been called to any incidents on bonfire night across the county.He added: “It’s a great news story.

I think we have seen the strength of community Safety Partnership in West Lothian.“There was a 53 incident reduction in terms of our attendance at events from 2021 and if we look at a rough costing we have probably made a community saving there of £106,000.”The number of deliberate fires over the bonfire period - October 15 to November 7 - in 2017 was 75.That dropped to 62 in 2021 and 47 last year.A report from the SFRS said that Fire Community Action Teams had returned to face to face engagement with school pupils following the lifting of lockdown restrictions.Fire officers took their stay safe message to almost 6000 pupils at secondary school assemblies whilst SFRS operational crews delivered the learning materials to P6 and P7 pupils across West Lothian.The report said: “The presentations were also shared with all schools so that they could be delivered by teachers using the provided speakers notes if necessary.“Positive feedback was received from schools both on the content and delivery of the presentations.”Police Scotland and SFRS conducted joint talks to groups attending the West Lothian Youth Action Project (WLYAP) from schools across West Lothian to help reach those not fully engaging with mainstream education.The fire service also worked with Police Scotland and community