'Fly-tipping' blazes reported at travellers site as Scots fire service slammed
"They should not be able to burn tons of debris, causing smoke and possible very harmful fumes."
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has been slammed for not attending 'fly-tipping' blazes at a Scots travellers site. Angry locals say travellers at the site in Granton regularly pile up fly-tipping waste and general rubbish to set alight.
The illegal travellers site is on Scottish Government land earmarked for a national collection of 130,000 pieces of art in a new state of the art home on the waterfront in Edinburgh. Despite planning permission being granted last month, dozens of campervans and caravans continue to illegally occupy the site.
Locals expressed fury the travellers regularly lighting 'potentially toxic' fires to fly-tipped items with black smoke seen across a wide area.
However, they say when Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have been called, they were told it wouldn't attend as travellers had reported them in advance as 'controlled burns.'
One local resident said: "I live opposite this site and the travellers continually burn tyres etc. We continue to witness large fires where the thick black smoke drifts over to our development.
"I have repeatedly phoned the fire brigade but they refuse to attend as it's 'controlled fire'. That is what we have to deal with on a regular basis."
Travellers arrived at the site in 2019 and a larger group joined them around 18 months ago.
A second local added: "So I can chuck all my junk into the back garden and set fire to it, just as long as I let the fire department know first. Well, that is good to know, no more having to book costly trips to the waste centres for me now."
Another continued: "They should not be able to burn tons of debris, causing smoke and possible very harmful fumes.
"They go on and on and on and on about Net zero and get on your bikes to save the car fumes and they allow this. Another example of double standards."
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's (SFRS) local senior officer for Edinburgh, area commander David Dourley, said "We are aware of a number of incidents involving controlled burning at Waterfront Avenue in the Granton area of Edinburgh, and concerns raised by members of the local community.
"Our operations control staff continue to receive calls and where appropriate, despatch resources to the incident. Our response and incident management is intelligence-based and takes into account that, on some occasions, controlled burning is reported. SFRS remain an active partner in supporting a multi-agency partnership approach relating to this matter.
"Where we receive repeat emergency calls about an instance of controlled burning, the appropriate emergency resource will be mobilised, as has been the case previously at Waterfront Avenue.
"As with attending any emergency incident, the SFRS Incident Commander will conduct a dynamic risk assessment of the situation taking account of the safety of our crews, environmental impact and impact on the surrounding community.
"We will continue to support and work with partners in relation to these incidents of this nature in the Waterfront Avenue area."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Ministers are committed to resolving the issues at the site in Granton and officials are working with partners including City of Edinburgh Council and Police Scotland to find a suitable and sustainable solution for all parties."
