Officers from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue service have lauded the effect of their Flames aren't Games campaign as the number of deliberate fires in the county have halved in a month.

The fire service launched the campaign last month in a bid to raise awareness of the dangers of playing with fire.

Now Staffordshire Fire and Rescue have released figures which show that in the month before the campaign began, July, 174 deliberate fires in the open or at disused buildings were reported, which exactly halved in August, to 87 reported incidents.

This also shows a huge drop from the same month in 2016, when 165 incidents were reported.

A large part of the Flames aren't Games campaign was a spoken word music video which revolved around the message that fire should not be played with - entitled 'Prevent and protect'.

The video and song were created in a collaboration between the fire service, the Urban Arts Centre and young people from Staffordshire, and tell the tale of a young man, played by Jordan Lynam, who used to set fires but has changed his ways and now wants to educate others about fire safety.

Glynn Luznyj, the director of 'Prevent and Protect', said that the video had been very well received, and he said he believed it had played a huge role in helping to lower the number of dangerous fires across Staffordshire.

A shot from the Flames Aren't Games music video
A frame from the Flames Aren't Games music video

He said: "Thankfully, we have seen a significant reduction in the number of deliberate fires in August. Fifty per cent is a huge drop, which means firefighters will have been able to concentrate more valuable time on prevention and education activities.

"We've had a fantastic response to the video which has been viewed more than 132,000 times since its launch on Friday, July 28.

"With the school holidays drawing to a close, the final push of the campaign will encourage more hopeful competition entrants to like and share the video, which will hopefully prompt more views and most importantly more awareness that flames aren't games."

The campaign targeted teenagers, as the service attempted to reach out to different audiences, and the innovative video was inspired by the likes of Stomzy and Skeptor, according to its producers.

Glynn Luznyj said: "Although the video is at the heart of the campaign, it is just one element of it. We have supported numerous fun activities held around the county throughout the summer holidays, which have been delivered with partner organisations.

"I’d like to recognise the fantastic local work that our teams have done with partners to engage with young people to help reduce antisocial behaviour and arson."

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