Firefighters in North demand more staff as arson attacks increase

Feud and paramilitary attacks have fuelled surging numbers of arsons in the North, it was claimed today.

The dissident firebomb campaign and the murder of Gerard Devlin in west Belfast are being partly blamed for the rise which firefighters said was putting their lives at risk.

The Fire Brigades Union has demanded extra firefighters to combat the menace.

Jim Barbour from the union said: "We are very conscious of the fact that there is a campaign by dissident republicans to de-rail the peace process.

"There is no likelihood of this abating and we have huge concerns about that. There's also no doubt that the feud in west Belfast has contributed to this.

"This campaign puts firefighters' lives at risk and we are concerned about the ill-timed proposals by the Fire Authority to reduce our cover."

The Fire Service plans to shake up cover at some stations.

Incidents of deliberate property fires jumped from 2,754 in 2004/05 to 2,828 in 2005/06.

Last week, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said dissident republican attacks on commercial premises had cost £25m (€37.1m).

In March 2005 they firebombed two stores in Forestside retail park in Belfast, damaging the Next clothes shop.

Paramilitaries have stepped up their campaign with recent incendiary attacks on stores in Coleraine, Belfast and Newry.

Homebase on Belfast's Boucher Road was totally gutted in the blaze, which happened while staff were still in the store.

A string of houses have been burned in west Belfast since Gerard Devlin was stabbed in February 2006.

The dispute has continued into this year. In one incident in September a family-of-four were lucky to escape injury after petrol bombings at their Dermott Hill Park home saw petrol bombs thrown through a conservatory window.

Mr Barbour added: "People have been conscious for a long time since the 9/11 attacks in America of the vulnerability of emergency services and we think it is particularly untimely for the Fire Brigade to consider wholesale reduction of cover."

In October 2005 police came under blast and petrol bomb attack from loyalists angry at the re-routing of an Orange Order parade through Whiterock in west Belfast.

Last week arsonists sprayed a Co Armagh couple in petrol and set fire to their house.

Thomas O'Hare died following the attack at his Foley Road home, which destroyed the building.

There was a reduction in the number of people killed in accidental fires last year. A total of five people perished, down from eight the previous year.

Chief Fire Officer Colin Lammey said the reduction had been a significant success for the service.

"Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service is greatly encouraged by the continuing increase year on year of smoke alarm ownership across Northern Ireland - and this past year it has gone up a further 2%."

"Over the past year we have also invested heavily in state-of-the-art emergency response equipment and world-class training for our firefighters."

There were 32,007 incidents last year across the North including fires, road traffic collisions and chemical spillages.

The number of homes with a smoke alarm has increased by 2%.