Peterborough arsonists are putting lives at risk

The warning comes after several incidents in Bretton in Peterborough last night (Thursday) where there were several incidents of deliberate fires including a wheelie bin, piles of rubbish and a postbox set on fire.

In the first incident, a crew from Dogsthorpe was called to some rubbish on fire at Pets at Home at the Bretton Centre in Bretton Way at 5.11pm. They used a hose reel to extinguish the fire and returned to their station by 5.49pm.

A crew from Dogsthorpe was called out shortly afterwards to a wheelie bin well alight, up against a house, in Cleatham in Bretton at 5.48pm. They used a hose reel to extinguish the fire and returned to their station by 6.06pm.

At 6.06pm, the same crew was called to a postbox which had been set on fire in Bretton Way, Bretton. Crews used a CO2 extinguisher to extinguish the fire and returned to their station by 6.46pm.

There was a second fire in Cleatham Way at 6.07pm where some rubbish had been set on fire. Firefighters from Dogsthorpe used a hose reel to extinguish the fire and returned to their station by 7.10pm.

At the same time, a second crew from Dogsthorpe was called to a pile of rubbish in an underpass in Bretton Way, Bretton. Firefighters used a hose reel to extinguish the fire and returned to their station by 7.11pm.

Pete Jones, Arson Liaison Officer for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, warned: “Deliberate fires put lives at risk. If we are dealing with a bin fire somewhere and a house fire comes in, with a report of people inside, we then can’t be in two places at once. Any deliberate fire is a waste of our time and resources.”