Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue issues prevention advice

From not leaving glass bottles on the ground to putting cigarettes in the bin, fire prevention advice has been issued following an increase in blazes.

During the summer months, firefighters are extremely busy saving lives.

To keep the number of incidents crews are called out to down to a minimum, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue has issued some simple fire prevention tips.

In the past month there has been a steady increase in incidents, followed by an extreme number this week due to the very hot weather.

Ashley Hildred, group manager at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, said: “With hot and dry conditions in recent weeks, we have seen more fires starting in Lincolnshire, and we’re attending far more than usual.

"Fires related to the hot weather have included grassland, field fires, grass verges, woodland, areas of peat, car fires and some that have spread to property.

“Wildfires and fires in the open often require significant numbers of firefighters for protracted periods of time to ensure they are fully extinguished and to prevent spread to nearby property, as well as impact on the highways.

"The increase in fires over recent weeks is having an impact on the availability of crews to attend other incidents, and while the control room personnel are doing a great in mobilising crews while ensuring strategic cover is in place, a lot of these incidents are avoidable."

Several fires this week have been on farmland, including two blazes in Newstead near Stamford and a fire on the outskirts of Uppingham.

Advice has been issued to support farmers with a view to reducing the risk of fire harming them, their machines or their crops.

Area manager, Dan Moss, said: “We urge farmers to be aware of fire safety during harvest.

"In these hot, dry conditions, we recognise it’s difficult, but maintaining machinery regularly and having a fire extinguisher in the cab are great precautionary measures.”

Other causes of significant fires over the past week in Lincolnshire have included bonfires left unattended, carelessly discarded cigarettes, barbecues that have been incorrectly disposed of, sparks from industrial processes and glass objects within vehicles refracting sunlight.

Prevention advice includes:

• Do not have campfires or bonfires in extremely hot and dry conditions
• Do not leave controlled burns unattended
• Ensure cigarettes are completely put out and put in a bin, never left on the ground or thrown from a window
• Put glass bottles in the bin as strong sunlight can reflect off them and start a fire

Across the country there is also strong advice against lighting floating sky lanterns.