Photos show huge pile of fly-tipped rubbish as firefighters forced to dampen piles of waste to prevent deliberate fires

Peterlee fire crews watered down a huge pile of fly-tipped rubbish to help reduce the number of deliberate fires after the team responded to multiple incidents over the bank holiday weekend.
By Georgina Cutler
Published 5th May 2021, 15:45 BST
Crews dampened a huge pile of fly-tipped rubbish in Shotton Colliery.Crews dampened a huge pile of fly-tipped rubbish in Shotton Colliery.
Crews dampened a huge pile of fly-tipped rubbish in Shotton Colliery.

Firefighters from Peterlee fire service dampened down a large pile of rubbish believed to have been fly-tipped in Shotton Colliery to prevent it being ignited after teams tackled a number of blazes over the bank holiday weekend.

Crews regularly monitor the area for fly-tipping as the team say they are often called to fires started deliberately involving refuse and fly-tipping.

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The news comes after crews attended multiple incidents in Peterlee, Shotton Colliery and Horden over the weekend where many of the fires were caused deliberately.

Crews were called to multiple deliberate fires over bank holiday weekend.Crews were called to multiple deliberate fires over bank holiday weekend.
Crews were called to multiple deliberate fires over bank holiday weekend.

A spokesperson for Peterlee Fire Station said at the time: "Many of these fires have been caused deliberately and could of delayed us from attending more important incidents.”

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The fire service is now urging the public to report fly-tipping to their local council to avoid further deliberate fires.

A spokesperson for Peterlee Fire Station said: “Peterlee crews regularly monitor the area for fly-tipping as they are often called to fires started deliberately involving refuse and fly-tipping.

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"The fly tipping was dampened down by crews to prevent it been ignited and reported to DCC using their online reporting tool.

"You can report fly-tipping in your area to your local council here [Durham].”

The fire service also advised residents using waste removal companies to check they are registered online and to report any information regarding deliberate fires in their area to Firestoppers anonymously on 0800 169 5558.

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