2006-07-12 Arsonists putting lives at risk

"THEY are putting our firefighters lives at risk."
Those are the harrowing words of Peterhead fire chief Gordon Moir as he looks to address the recent spate of arson attacks in the town.
In the past few months, fire crews from Peterhead have had to deal with several massive blazes, many of which are being deemed by the police as being the result of wilful fire raising.
And although Grampian Fire and Rescue are equipped to deal with such situations, Mr Moir says these attacks are a burden the service could do without.
He said: "These attacks are never something that we can't deal with, but they are an unnecessary burden on our resources. Through various campaigns, we have managed to get incidents of wilful fire raising down by 40% in the past three years, but we still have to deal with a lot of these attacks."
He added that firefighters lives are being risked unnecessarily: "Everyday we have firefighters that put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe. Incidents of wilful fire raising are putting the lives of these people at risk for no reason.
"We carry out risk assessment throughout an incident and if there is no risk of human life then we won't send firefighters in. However, if there was a person trapped then our firefighters would have to take risks to save them."
Cruden Bay golf course, the old Strachan's warehouse and the wooden pallet store on Wilson Street have all been targeted by firebugs in recent months.
This weekend between 6.05pm on Friday and 8.30am on Saturday, a green Landrover Discovery 4x4 was also set on fire causing substantial damage, while parked in Greenhill Road at Peterhead Harbour.
Peterhead Police Station Duty Sergeant Gordon Forsyth is concerned by the recent spate of arson attacks and appealed for the public to help Grampian Police solve some of these cases.
He said: "Due to the value of property destroyed and the risk to human life we are very concerned about the recent arson attacks.
"I would like to warn these people that you face a custodial sentence for wilful fire raising and you could face life imprisonment if someone is killed. There are techniques that joint investigators use to determine the cause of fires and we can find clues.
"However, public information is essential if we are to trace the firebugs that have caused so much damage. If you know someone that is involved in these indents then it is very important that you come forward to the police."
Police are still hunting the firebugs who torched a wooden pallet yard on Wilson Street last month. Nine units of Grampian Fire and Rescue Service were in attendance at a fire on Wilson Street, Peterhead a fortnight ago.
The fire at a yard containing a large number of wooden pallets was discovered shortly after midnight on June 27.
Grampian Police are appealing to the public for any information which they might have which could assist them in their enquiries.
Anyone who was in the area at the time prior to the fire being discovered - between 11pm on Monday night and 12.30am Tuesday June 27 - and saw or heard anything suspicious is asked to contact Grampian Police on 0845 600 5700 or Crimestoppers on 0900 555 111.