A fire chief has this week issued reassurances following a surge in deliberate fire-setting across Dumfries and Galloway.
Craig McGoldrick, a local senior officer with Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, insisted that this region is still one of the safest places to live in the country, despite a steady incline to 196 deliberate blazes being started last year.
North West Dumfries was a hotspot for arson, with an average of 6.5 incidents recorded every month.
Firefighters were called to put out 78 deliberate fires in the area last year, which was almost four times higher than the next problem area Stranraer and the Rhins.
One youth has been charged with allegedly starting 26 fires in North West Dumfries, while 18 other teens have been referred to undertake a deliberate fire setters’ intervention programme.
However, Scottish Fire and Rescue chiefs say that the fire-setting is a “national trend” which occurred during the pandemic, and that positive steps are being taken to curb it.
The issue was discussed at Dumfries and Galloway Council’s police, fire and rescue sub-committee on Friday.
Annandale South Councillor George Jamieson raised concern about figures in his ward and Annandale North, which totalled 37.
He asked: “Is this derelict buildings or something beyond that?”
Craig McGoldrick replied: “Yes, it’s almost that trend that when you start to see derelict and abandoned buildings, and the lack of distraction for the youths, we start to see an uptake in deliberate fires.
“It’s just preventative work, the multi-agency approach, that we’ve all got to do to continue to monitor this and indeed start to drive it back down.”
North West Dumfries Councillor Graham Bell said: “I know for a fact that the police, the fire service, and community safety team are working hard to stop these deliberate fire settings.
“It is alarming for North West Dumfries, it’s way above the rest.
“But compared to other areas across Scotland, are we finding a trend in certain areas across Scotland, or is it just localised with North West Dumfries and Dumfries and Galloway?”
Mr McGoldrick replied: “There is a trend that’s been identified nationally and I think that would be fair to attribute that to a degree in change of human behaviour during the Covid period.
“If you take that into the context that we were probably limited with that face to face presence in our communities, that’s where we’ve started to see that particular spike.
“We have a strategic group that’s focusing on this, and a number of outcomes for that will the best practice. Dumfries and Galloway always focuses on the best practice approaches we’re taking to try and drive these types of behaviours down.
“Yes, you’re absolutely right – this is a trend that is outwith Dumfries and Galloway.
“Our numbers still reflect that we’re one of the safest regions to live in, despite our particular spike. Hopefully there’s reassurance there that our approaches are recognised as some of the best to deal with these and reduce the numbers.”
