Fire callouts almost double

Wed, 22 Aug 2018

The number of fires tackled by Manx firefighters between April and August almost doubled this year.

Speaker of the House of Keys Juan Watterson sought details of the number of additional fires attended by the Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service during the recent spell of dry conditions.

Home Affairs Minister Bill Malarkey confirmed in this month's Tynwald written answers that crews attended 100 outside fires between April and the middle of August this year, compared with 57 in 2017.

The Minister also described some of this year's outside wildfires as significant in both size and duration, requiring resources from five of the Island's even fire stations.