Deliberate Fires Appeal – Help Reduce Demand on Firefighters

This week our crews have attended a number of grass and refuse fires across South Wales, which we suspect may have been deliberately started.

Some have required the attendance of multiple appliances, use of critical equipment and the movement of resources.

Deliberate fires like this put our firefighters lives in danger, pose risk to the community and can cause significant damage to property and the environment.

To tackle this problem we are working with our partners across Wales as part of Operation Dawns Glaw, a taskforce set up to reduce the number of deliberate fires.

It is important for us to reinforce that, due to the coronavirus, our current situation is unprecedented.

While we remain committed to delivering an effective and efficient emergency response across South Wales, we are very aware that many more families will be spending time at home,  cooking, washing and using electrical items, which increases the risk of a potential fire. Diverting our resources to deal with deliberate fires will draw fundamental and valuable resources away from our communities, placing unnecessary risk on lives.

We would urge anyone who has information on suspected deliberate fires, or who sees anything suspicious to contact 101, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

If you see a fire, or anyone starting a fire, please call 999 immediately.

Please follow Government and Health Services advice about social distancing – please if you can stay home.