Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service has released their own spoken word music video to attempt to educate young people on the danger of fire.
Entitled, ‘Flames Aren’t Games’, the campaign is particularly targeting open fires in outdoor areas.
The video is a collaboration between the fire service, the Urban Arts Centre and young people from Staffordshire.
It tells the story 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.
The service held several meetings with young people involved in the Prince’s Trust programme, a charity campaign ran to help unemployed young people turn their lives around.
The young people gave the service an insight to the mind-set of someone who wants to set something on fire and what could potentially stop them.
Song writer, Gary Oliver, from the Urban Arts Centre in Stoke and Jordan Lynam, an aspiring artist worked with the service to create the song to go along with the video.
Glynn Luznyj directed the music video and has explained that she hopes that the video and the message behind it can be put out to many people across Staffordshire.
She said: “Deliberate fires have become a really worrying issue in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. We are hoping that through this video we can reach the masses and show young people how dangerous it is to set a fire.
“We are urging people to share the video in order for it to reach as many people as possible. Please show it your children, friends and students. We hope that by using an eye-catching video the message will be clear and strong, and hopefully it will make those who consider flames as games think twice.
“We’ve already seen a large increase in deliberate outdoor fires this year and the risk is even higher now we have entered the summer holidays as we usually see a spike in the number of calls to these fires.
“The video is just the start of our summer long campaign which also involves us supporting diversionary activities around the county in the hope of deterring young people from setting fires by keeping them busy and engaged.”
The fire service has claimed that the number of deliberate outdoor fires has increased just within the last six months.
A spokesman from the service said: “Figures show the number of deliberate outdoor fires has dramatically risen in the last six months. In May and June this year we saw 348 deliberate fires compared to 243 fires in the same time frame last year and between March and April the numbers had tripled compared to 2016.”
Prevent and Protect, what is said?
Sitting in my room on a Saturday afternoon,
Reminiscing on times, what we used to do
Good games, bad games, board games, that’s true
When they lit the torch paper the sparks are yellow and blue
As I watched the men fight the flames like Kung Fu
It wasn’t until my mate’s dog got hurt
I knew the things I thought right, yeah I knew
I wanted power, the world had no power
Then I opened my eyes and saw the fruits of my labour
I was the creator, the instigator
The all-powerful fire starter turn green to blackness
To make my world darker, just wanted to light the flame
They would know my name
But I lost control, the flame turned to pain
I lost my mind this is no excuse
But I swear down man it’s the truth
So I’m talking to the vocal booth,
Set fire to the beats I produce
Just say that I changed my game
Rearranged my brain yeah
Removed the stain yeah
To sooth the pain
I don’t seek the fame in the flame
I just realise that flames are not games
