Firebugs threatening lives

Firefighters said today lives were potentially being put at risk because of youths setting regular fires in the open.

Crews from South Elmsall Station have turned out five times in the last month to fires in the open at the top of School Street, opposite the old Shinwell estate.

One firefighter said: “There have been fires set in the open, either a wheeled bin or a tyre or some rubbish and we have to attend it. The problem is we are located in the bottom corner of the county and while we are attending this incident, we are not able to attend something else and it might take a back-up unit longer to get to our area. If there was another incident, it could, potentially, put lives at risk.”