Safety GMFRS

Greater Manchester residents warned never to burn rubbish after fire spreads to house

Once again, residents are being warned never to burn rubbish after a fire spread to a house, risking lives and damaging the property.

Firefighters were called in the early hours of this morning (May 7) to Longworth Street, Bolton to reports of a fire.

Three fire engines from Bolton North and Bolton Central attended at around 1.32am and found a fire involving a large quantity of rubbish in a rear yard which had spread to a house, damaging the exterior of the property. Firefighters extinguished the fire using two hose reels and were in attendance for around 90 minutes.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is once again urging residents not to burn rubbish as it can easily spread to nearby properties and put lives at risk.

The incident this morning follows another one last month where a rubbish fire spread to three nearby houses, causing the roof of one of them to collapse. 

GMFRS Head of Prevention Paul Fearnhead said: “We are urging people across Greater Manchester to please never burn rubbish. This incident shows how easily these fires can get out of control and spread. Fortunately on this occasion our firefighters were quickly on the scene and able to extinguish the fire before it could spread too far.

“Last week we saw a significant drop in the number of fires involving waste compared to previous weeks, so thank you to the people who have listened to us and are not burning their rubbish, and please, to everyone else, think carefully about your actions and what the consequences could be.

“I hope all of our residents enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend but once again, please do so safely.”

You can find more information on storing waste safely on our website.


07/05/2020 15:07 PM