Bin arsonists blasted by firefighters

One pump from Wigan was called to Warrington Road in Ashton at 3.30am yesterday after reports of several fires.

They found a number of bins, which had been put out on the pavement for emptying, which were well alight and needed extinguishing.

Fortunately, none of the fires spread and caused any damage other than to the containers themselves but it angered the crew who could have been diverted from a life-threatening emergency.

And it isn’t the first time recently that fire crews have had to be called out on this kind of avoidable inciden.

Watch manager Shaun Aspey said: “These are calls the fire service do not need to be attending because of the carelessness of misguided people within the community.

“It is just mindless to set fire to these bins for no reason whatsoever. It also costs the local authority a lot of money to replace them.

“The local residents are also put out too as they have to go without their bins until they are replaced.

“There’s just absolutely no need for it. We attend a lot of bin fires and they just waste so much time for us when we could be attending more serious incidents where lives could be at risk.

“Hopefully people think in the future.”

Wigan Council boss Paul Parton also had his say, explaining how replacing them costs the taxpayer.

The interim assistant director for operational services at the Council, said: “Replacing bins is a very expensive business and costs the council thousands pounds a year, which in many cases this can easily be avoided.

“To help reduce the chances of bins being damaged, stolen or even set on fire, we ask residents to take their bins in as soon as possible after they have been emptied to keep them safe.”