Fire service urge extra bank holiday care

Date published: 04/05/2007

After the warmest April on record many people will be heading out into the countryside to enjoy the spring bank holiday weekend. Greater Manchester’s Firefighters and Fire Control Operators, the people who answer the 999 calls, are preparing to deal with the increase in grass and moor land fires they see at this time of the year.

Assistant County Fire Officer Kieran Nolan said: "At this time of year any period of dry and sunny weather can result in higher numbers of grass fires, which have caused large scale incidents. This can result in Firefighters and Control Operators dealing with large numbers of incidents and having to make those calls which are of risk to life and property a priority. 

"Please bear this in mind when on moor land or grass land and take extra care with anything which may cause a fire. It is too easy to attribute all these types of fire to the dry conditions we see at various times of the year. The fact is that some of these fires are started deliberately. As a consequence fire crews are needlessly tied up at minor incidents which could cause a delay in crews attending a real emergency where lives and property are in danger. Parents should warn their children of the dangers of starting these types of fire."

Sean Prendergast, from the Peak District National Park Ranger Service said: "we really welcome Greater Manchester Fire Services raising of this issue particularly at this sensitive time.   We want to appeal to people to take extra care not to smoke or light fires, or even throw cigarette butts out of car – windows. It only takes one spark to cause a devastating blaze, from which the moor land habitats and wildlife take years to recover."

By following some simple advice the public can help protect the countryside for everyone’s enjoyment, and help ensure Greater Manchester’s fire fighters are available for real emergencies.

• Be extra careful when discarding cigarettes or matches or anything else that may cause a fire in vegetation.
• Be especially careful if you’re having a barbeque; make sure you extinguish the coals completely before you discard them – in a proper bin or container.
• Don’t be tempted to have an open fire in the countryside – small fires quickly get out of control and can cause widespread devastation.
• Mum’s and Dad’s – remember to keep matches and lighters away from children- deliberate fires can quickly become large scale incidents in these conditions – and could delay fire fighters from attending a real emergency where lives are at risk.