My name is Simon Brookes and I am an Arson Reduction Officer for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and my primary role is to reduce the amount of deliberate fires we attend within the Barnsley District. I have worked in the fire service for over 21 years and served both as an operational officer and within the Community Safety section.
Arson is a major social and economic problem. It can lead to serious injury and loss of life and costs the UK economy around £2.2 billion a year. Taking into account attendance by fire-fighters, clean-up work by council workers and possible investigation by police, the government estimates the cost of each deliberate fire linked to anti-social behaviour is approximately £2,000.
Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) fires are a major drain on fire service resources and put lives at risk unnecessarily. A typical ASB fire includes wheelie bins, rubbish, grass and skip fires. My role involves monitoring incidents on a daily basis which allows developing trends or activities to be identified at an early stage. Once identified the target area receives an influx of fire service intervention to raise awareness in the community and to promote fire safety to local residents and businesses.
I work closely with partner agencies across the district on a daily basis. Partners include South Yorkshire Police and the Safer Neighbourhood Teams, BMBC, Berneslai Homes, schools and elected members.
By working together to reduce arson we can make the communities we live in a cleaner and safer place to live.
To report any hazards which you feel may need my intervention, such as fly tipping and ASB fire hot spot areas, then please click onto the link below and complete the form.