A YOUTH burnt their face and had to be treated by paramedics after copying a silly fire prank on social media.
The youngster sustained injuries after literally playing with fire – and was lucky not to be seriously harmed.
He was one of three casualties attributed to accidental fires within homes in the Annandale and Eskdale area between April 1 and September 30 last year.
Firefighters have produced their six-month update report for Annandale and Eskdale area committee.
The report, prepared by station commander Lucy Donaldson, reads: “There were zero fire fatalities within Annandale and Eskdale, however there were three casualties attributed to accidental dwelling fires over the reporting year.
“One was a youth who had been experimenting following watching a social media video. They sustained slight burns to their face and were tended to by Scottish Ambulance Service on scene.”
The number of accidental dwelling fires in Annandale and Eskdale between April 1 and September 30 last year was equal to the previous year’s figure of 12.
Half of these did not require any firefighting action and the majority had an area of fire damage of less than 10sq metres, according to the fire service report.
Smoke detectors were not present in three of the premises which was addressed by the attending crew or community action team.
The report states: “This continues to demonstrate that our home fire safety visits initiative is working.
“Over the reporting period 148 home fire safety visits have been carried out within Annandale and Eskdale District, 25 of these being premises identified as high or very high risk.”
Meanwhile, there has been a slight drop in availability for on-call duty fire engines and crews during April 1 and September 30 last year compared similar periods pre-pandemic.
The main concern is ongoing problems maintaining staffing levels at Gretna.
The report states: “Moffat, Lockerbie, Langholm, Gretna and Annan on call RDS (retained duty system) managed a combined availability of over 83 percent.
“We are aware of the circumstances surrounding availability at Gretna and have been investing in recruitment as well as providing short term cover at peak times to maintain resilience within Annandale and Eskdale.
“Taking Gretna out of the equation, the remaining stations are returning a 94 percent availability, which is outstanding in the current climate.”
