Bonfire night sets city ablaze

Arthur's Seat ablaze

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The Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service reported Edinburgh’s most eventful Bonfire Night yet, with crews responding to a record number of emergency calls.

Operators handled 826 calls between six pm on 5 November and the early hours of the following morning. Last year the figure was 770.

A large number of incidents were caused by fireworks, including one on Arthur’s Seat, where for a second year running a gorse-fire was sparked by a stray rocket. Firefighters were still attending to the blaze the following afternoon.

Martin Gray, acting head of the Historic Scotland ranger service, has warned of the threat posed by fireworks to Holyrood Park. He said: “Fires can kill rare wildlife and damage a special part of Edinburgh there for everyone to enjoy.

“Just as concerning is that people have been digging holes to set off fireworks, which causes potential damage in an area rich with archaeology. We would remind people that fireworks are not allowed in the park."

In another incident pensioners living in Mandy Gray's block in Willowbrae were woken by a barrage of 500 fireworks set off in the building’s stairwell. The impromptu display damaged doors and windows and was filmed by the youths responsible on their mobile phones. 75-year-old local resident Jack Kelly said: “I actually thought we had got away with it this year because it had been pretty quiet, but then there was this almighty bang and I knew what it was.

"It was just horrendous, incredibly frightening but it is something we have grown to expect every year now, it is very sad.”

Elsewhere a fire began after a firework was deliberately thrown through the bathroom window of a flat in Murieston Place, Dalry, and a children’s playground in Madeira Street, Leith, was set alight.

The unprecedented number of disturbances followed the rejection, by police chiefs, of a bid to ban the sale of fireworks to the general public. A spokesperson for the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland said: “It is felt there is sufficient legislative power available to allow the police to deal with those persons misusing fireworks."

An opinion poll conducted by the Edinburgh Evening News recorded 72 per cent of respondents agreed that it was time to ban the sale of fireworks to the general public. However Scotland’s top policemen are concerned that a blanket ban may “penalise the majority of law-abiding citizens."

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