A LOCAL fire chief has voiced his concerns about a rise in rubbish fires.

Crews from Dreghorn Fire Station in particular have recently attended several calls relating to rubbish, bin and fence fires within the Dreghorn and Irvine areas.

In the last week alone, officers from the station attended 17 incidents, ten of which were false alarms.

These included two bin fires on Thursday, April 10 in Portland Avenue, Dreghorn and Girdle Toll respectively along with a fence on fire in Springhill Terrace and a bin shed on fire in Belfast Quay in Irvine on Sunday, April 13.

The Easter holidays can often be a particularly busy time for the fire service with their resources being increasingly stretched due to nuisance calls.

Now, Dreghorn Fire Station’s Commander, Gregor McPherson, is calling on the public to help to reduce the number of unwanted calls in the area and be quick to report any fire raising.

Station Commander McPherson (pictured) said: “The public is of massive assistance to all the emergency services in reducing unwanted calls.

“I have noted an increase in the calls attended to bins, fences and rubbish within our area. If the public can assist and report any instance of deliberate fire setting it would make a significant positive impact to the local Dreghorn area.

“While all the services are being cut and stretched, anything that reduces the number of rubbish fires means the crews are available for incidents of a more serious nature.”