Everyone can play their part in tackling fire crime this Arson Awareness Week, says Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Arson Prevention Forum. 

There have been 389 deliberate fires in Shropshire since April 1st last year down from 453 for the previous 12 months.

“Arson accounts for almost half of all fires attended by the fire and rescue services and can have devastating effects in terms of its cost and consequences,” says Lee Howell, the Forum’s Independent Chairman.

Pet lovers are being urged to take part in a charity walk in Shropshire on Sunday to raise funds to buy the first animal oxygen mask for a county fire station.

Smokey Paws, a not for profit organisation, is campaigning to ensure every fire appliance in the UK carries a pet oxygen mask to revive an animal suffering from smoke inhalation after a building fire.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service is supporting the campaign which starts on March 20 at 11am with a charity walk in Ellesmere launched by a local pet rescue organisation.

Shropshire firefighters dealt with a potential chemical alert when three drums containing a mystery liquid were reported in woodland near Oswestry.

A total of 20 firefighters from Oswestry, Prees, Tweedale and Whitchurch attended the scene at Glentworth Close, Morda at 4.36pm on Tuesday.(March 1).

They included the brigade’s Environmental Protection Unit and the Incident Support Unit with officers specially trained in dealing with hazardous materials.

Smoke alarms which work are saving lives and reducing damage in house fires in Shropshire, revealed the county’s Chief Fire Officer.

Fire safety education from Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service means that more people have fitted alarms which give an early alert to householders if fire breaks out, said John Redmond.

“More than half the fires we attend are out by the time we get there due to the high number of working smoke alarms and better safety education for everyone.

Fire crews from Shropshire have joined Hereford and Worcester, Lancashire and Cheshire firefighters in pumping thousands of gallons of water away to protect the village of Croston, near Southport, in Lancashire. They were close to the scene where the Chinook helicoper has been dropping 1 tonne sandbags to avert further flooding and fill a gap in flood defences on the River Douglas.