Arson attacks are on the rise (From Barry And District News)

Arson attacks are on the rise

FIRE chiefs fear a tragedy is waiting to happen because they are being inundated with deliberate mountainside and grass fires.

They warn that they cannot be in two places at once, and are worried that while crews are battling to cope with these arson attacks they are not available to tackle house fires or road crashes.

They have also revealed the cost of these fires - nearly £29 million last year.

And the worrying thing is that this year the number of deliberate fires has soared.

During the Easter holiday, the South Wales Fire Service received over 1,000 calls to attend deliberate fires to mountainsides and grass.

Between March 15 and April 15 there were 4,054 grass fires costing the tax payers of South Wales nearly £4.5 million.

Most of these fires are believed to have been started by youths on holiday from school.

During 2001/2002, the South Wales Fire Service attended over 19,000 deliberately started fires.

The cost to the public has been estimated at £38,886,100.

Now the fire service has launched a major campaign to try to halt the huge rise in arson cases.

Chief Fire Officer Mr Brian Fraser said: "Not only are grass fires dangerous and illegal, more importantly they are stopping our crews from being available to attend calls such as house fires and road accidents.

Our resources are limited and if we are up on the mountains the crews cannot be in the towns and villages where they may be needed to save a life.

Put simply we can not be in two places at once."

The message from an active and effective partnership between the fire service and the police in the fight against arson in the countryside is, "these culprits need to stop before either one of them is burnt or someone dies as a direct result or indirect result of their actions".

To combat this threat, The South Wales Fire Service is launching an extensive arson awareness campaign designed to communicate the severe effects of arson.