Lesley Griffiths joins young people on the Bernie project’s Firefighter for a day course at Maesteg Fire Station
Local Government and Government Business Minister, Lesley Griffiths, AM, joined young people from Maesteg Comprehensive School as they became Firefighters for a day at the town’s Fire Station.
The youngsters were taking part in the Bernie Project, which aims to tackle deliberate grass and mountain fire setting over the Easter Holiday period in the South Wales valleys.
Using Bernie the cartoon sheep as the project logo and the strapline ‘grass is green, fire is mean’ the project has been tailored for the communities that historically suffer from a high number of deliberate grass and mountain fires. It provides a range of activities during the holidays which are designed to simultaneously divert young people away from, and educate them about the dangers and consequences of, deliberate fire setting.
The Minister said: “We read all too often about fires, and grass fires in particular, which have been started deliberately and have caused a great deal of danger, destruction and extra work for our fire-fighters. I am, therefore, very pleased to see the Bernie project do such excellent work to educate young people about the risks involved with setting fires deliberately.
“I have been very impressed with both the project and the young people who have been taking part who have shown a real enthusiasm for the tasks they have been doing and have clearly developed an awareness of the impact of fires on and danger to themselves, the fire and rescue service and the community.”
The Bernie project is one of several youth engagement and arson prevention schemes supported by the Welsh Government. £767,000 of support for arson prevention schemes was announced last week, as part of a wider £3.3m fund for this financial year to promote Fire and Road Safety across Wales. The funding also supports home fire safety checks and equipment for vulnerable people, youth engagement activity and road safety initiatives.
The Minister added: “Arson costs Wales an estimated £53.3m per year in purely economic terms, not to mention the danger and upset it causes. The £767,000 the Welsh Government is investing in arson prevention initiatives is, therefore, well spent if it has an impact on reducing the number of fires which are deliberately set and therefore the risk to our firefighters and communities.”
Head of Risk Reduction for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Alison Kibblewhite, said: “Grass and Mountain Fires are a serious issue and a grave danger to communities. In addition the damage to the wildlife habitat and the spoiling of the beautiful landscape is totally unacceptable. We are pleased that our work so far has led to a reduction in the number of wildfires in recent years but South Wales Fire and Rescue Service will continue to work with partners to reduce the number of incidents further.”
