Firefighters combatting social media role behind spike in deliberate fires in Fife town
A trend for youths to get coverage of fires on social media has led to a spike in outdoor blazes in Glenrothes.
That’s the view of the town’s leading firefighter who said efforts are well underway to try and education schoolchildren of the dangers of such actions. A total of 175 deliberate fires were sparked last year compared to 106 in the previous year.
Speaking to members of Fife Council’s Glenrothes area committee, Station Commander Beattie said the weather was also a contributory factor in the rise.
“It is easier for fires to take effect in the dry weather,” he said. “It is a trend within youths with Tik Toks and Facebook. One of the trends has been to get a fire onto social media. We have seen a spike especially through the dry period and school holidays.
“It has been significantly large so this is information that has been shared to us that there has been a trend on social media. Using this information, we are trying to advise kids of the repercussions of their actions and on the knock on effects that they don’ t see.
“We are hoping to see a reduction The trends will show next year where we have been successful across the board.”
Glenrothes West and Kinglassie councillor Craig Walker was shocked at the statistics.
“For an attempt to go viral that blows my mind in terms of possible consequences and the dangers of that,” he added.
Figures for 2024/2025 showed a decrease in accidental house fires with the number dropping to 15 from 24 in 2023/204. Non-domestic fires remained relatively low and saw a reduction from 20 in the last reporting year to six. Road traffic collisions attended by the SFRS went down from 22 to 16 and the number of non-fatal casualties dropped from ten to nine. The number of people rescued also went down from six to four with one fatality recorded in 2024/2025.