Safety blitz after arson attacks in East Lancashire (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Safety blitz after arson attacks in East Lancashire
3:30pm Thursday 23rd August 2012 in News
BUSINESSES DEVASTATED A blaze behind a takeaway in Plumbe Street earlier this year
ARSON attacks in two areas of East Lancashire are higher than official targets for this summer, the county’s fire authority has been told.
Fire chiefs have recorded 26 across Blackburn with Darwen, between April and June, and a further 15 in Pendle, over the same period.
But while the number of deliberately-set blazes are higher countywide benchmarks, they are still no worse than last year.
In Nelson, Colne and West Craven the number of arson incidents has in fact dropped from 21 to 15, although the target was 12.
Accidental house fires in Blackburn with Darwen are also slightly ahead of a target of 29 at 32.
Extra efforts are being made to curb the increase throughout this summer. Plans are being drawn together for a fire safety day in the Lammack area of Blackburn on September 9.
And fire officers in Burnley are preparing a safety campaign on accidental building fires – a blaze behind a takeaway in Plumbe Street earlier this year devastated businesses in the Fulledge area.
Regular safety and prevention work is also undertaken by fire safety officers in Pendle in primary schools across Nelson and Colne.
A Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “We will be working closely with police to establish how we can shore up some of these older buildings.”
Across Lancashire the service is performing well across a range of indicators, including secondary fires, the response times for appliances, sickness absence and the availability of retained pumps.
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