The potentially fatal consequences of rubbish fires were demonstrated in Dundee yesterday.
Firefighters used an empty block of flats in Whitfield to show how quickly and easily deliberate blazes in wheelie bins can put lives and property at risk.
They are appealing for people to ensure that bins and other waste are kept at a safe distance from homes.
In their first demonstration watched by partners from the police and city council and some residents a bin was set alight underneath an open window.
Stuart Cuthill, station manager for Dundee East, said: “We are coming into summertime and in good weather people will leave their windows open.”
Within a few seconds the bin’s contents were ablaze and flames around three feet high were licking at the window frame. Only a breeze kept the flames from igniting a curtain.
“You can see that it doesn’t take long for the fire to develop,” Mr Cuthill said.
“If the wind had been blowing in the other direction, that would have been into the building already. It would still be full of toxic smoke.”
The fire quickly began melting the plastic bin before firefighters used a hosereel to douse it.
A second scenario was another often encountered by fire crews in the city a rubbish bin, a mattress and other combustible material left in the communal close of the flats.
Once a fire was lit here, thick smoke filled the whole corridor within a few seconds and began pouring out of the open windows, with large flames clearly visible.
Mr Cuthill said that in an occupied block people would have been trapped inside their homes, possibly with smoke penetrating their front doors. The risks, especially to the young, the old and those with medical conditions such as asthma, were obvious.
“Anyone opening their door would have had a lungful of toxic smoke,” the station manager added.
Over June, July and August last year firefighters in the city dealt with 165 secondary fires including those in bins, skips and derelict properties.
Mr Cuthill said: “These are fires that should not happen. They are criminal acts.
“If an appliance is attending one of these, it cannot leave until the fire is completely out, even if there is a fire with someone trapped or a road traffic accident just around the corner.”
He said the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was urging people not to leave rubbish in closes and to keep their bins a safe distance from their homes.