Firefighters dealt with 109 deliberate fires across Renfrewshire between July and September, and Johnstone South and Elderslie saw more than any other part of the area.

The figures come from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's latest quarterly report for Renfrewshire, which goes before the council's Police and Fire and Rescue Scrutiny Sub-Committee this afternoon (Tuesday 27 October).

Most of the deliberate fires were outdoors. Refuse fires made up 46 of them and grassland, woodland and crops another 39. Eight involved road vehicles and four were in people's homes.

Where the fires happened

  • Johnstone South and Elderslie: 23
  • Paisley Northwest: 11
  • Renfrew South and Gallowhill: 11
  • Houston, Crosslee and Linwood: 10
  • Erskine and Inchinnan: 9
  • Bishopton, Bridge of Weir and Langbank; Paisley Northeast and Ralston; Renfrew North and Braehead: 8 each

The service says deliberate fire-setting puts the public, property, the environment and its own crews at risk. Crews file intelligence reports on deliberate fires and antisocial behaviour, and these are passed to the council's Community Action Team so partners can step in early.

The busy three months in numbers

Across Renfrewshire, crews went to 634 incidents in the quarter: 166 fires, 156 non-fire emergencies such as flooding, rescues and helping other agencies, and 269 false alarms. Firefighters rescued 18 people.

There were 26 accidental fires in homes, and cooking was the most common cause, behind 11 of them. In most cases the damage didn't spread beyond the item that caught fire or the room where it started. Paisley Northwest and Renfrew North and Braehead had the most, with five each.

Crews also attended 12 road collisions, carried out 224 home fire safety visits and completed 63 fire safety audits of businesses and other buildings. All the figures are provisional.

Ahead of bonfire season

With Bonfire Night and the darker nights coming, it's a good time to keep wheelie bins and rubbish out of reach and report fly-tipping, which can be set alight. You can ask for a free home fire safety visit by calling the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service on 0800 0731 999. Always call 999 if you see a fire.

Image: Fire Station, Paisley, by Billy McCrorie, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.