Subscribe to trusted local news
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
30
Apr
‘We have to move resources around like a big puzzle’: Harrogate firefighter on impact of disposable BBQ fires
A local firefighter has urged people to be vigilant when using disposable BBQs or starting bonfires this summer.
Chris Johnstone, station manager for the Harrogate district, told the Stray Ferret there had been an increasing number of “unnecessary” incidents across the district, such as disposable BBQs catching fire and bonfires getting out of control.
The current warm weather has further heightened fire concerns.
The Stray Ferret met Chris at Calmwater Bay near Knaresborough last week. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service had teamed up with a West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service crew to carry out a major practice exercise at the site.
We wanted to speak with Chris after noticing what appeared to be an increasing number of fires caused by youths locally, or firefighters being called to incidents involving young people.
Chris said the number of incidents had definitely increased. He added:
For us, it’s the impact of those jobs – not necessarily the number of them.
Any unnecessary incident is one too many because of our ability to provide an efficient service to the rest of the community when we’re tied up dealing with something like a small fire in the open.
Crews attend any incident where they are required — deliberate or accidental.
But Chris said firefighters being called to a small, deliberate fire or a disposable BBQ that has set alight "has to been seen as unncessary to the service" because they are incidents that could have easily been avoided.
As the days get warmer, the temptation to use a disposable BBQ with friends grows. But, with that temptation comes an increased chance of a preventable fire.
Chris said:
As we’re getting into summer, people want to have a BBQ. We find that teens will take the small, disposable BBQs – the £5 ones from the supermarket – into the woods and they’ll have a BBQ.
For starters, they sometimes have these BBQs in areas they shouldn’t be. Some of them will just leave the BBQ and all it takes is one ember to get blown into some dry undergrowth and, before we know it, that becomes a fire in the open and the impact on resources is increased.
Just this week (April 28), North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to a bin fire in Harrogate after a disposable BBQ had been “carelessly discarded”.
Most people have totally innocent intentions when using a disposable BBQ, Chris adds, but he wants the community to be aware of the impact small fires can have on resources.
If we have a small fire in the open and we have to deploy both our fire engines from Harrogate, we are then dependent on our control room to move resources from other areas to backfill whilst the fire engines are dealing with the small fire.
That’s where the unnecessary element comes in; we’re having to move resources around in a big puzzle – like chess pieces – to maintain fire cover around the county.
The crews were carrying out an exercise when Chris met the Stray Ferret.
‘People can be surprised when we turn up to help them’
The Stray Ferret recently reported on a youth getting stuck on the roof of a public toilet block in Ripon.
Firefighters were called to the scene to rescue the young person, which took around five minutes.
When asked if incidents like this can also compromise the service’s resources, Chris said:
If there’s a need for us to go, we will go. We will always serve the community in any which way we can.
People can sometimes be surprised when we turn up to rescue them, but there just isn’t the awareness of, well if they’re here helping us, who is covering the rest of Ripon? And what has Harrogate had to do to maintain a high level of fire cover?
Many people still think the fire service only tackles flames, Chris says, but rescue services, flooding prevention and animal rescue are also major parts of the crews' days.
Public urged to be responsible
The Stray Ferret asked Chris what he would say to anyone looking to use a disposable BBQ or start a small bonfire as the weather gets warmer.
He said:
We always want people to have fun and to enjoy the summertime, but our recommendation is that they do that responsibly and consider the area they’re doing it in.
There are plenty of places people can have a BBQ safely and we would just urge them to do that, and, if things do go wrong, to be aware of the potential impact it can have on the community. The potential for that situation to be much worse is massive.
A fire investigation officer for Harrogate and Craven also told the Stray Ferret young people who start fires "for fun" often "get braver and start bigger fires".
The officer advised people to use a disposable BBQ in a “controlled environment”, like a garden, with a responsible adult.
0