Senior police officers have visited a project designed to reduce fires and redirect the energy of youngsters towards productive and worthwhile activities.

Organised by North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, the Phoenix Project works with people aged 13 to 17 to educate them about about the importance of fire safety and the consequences of deliberate fires and hoax calls.

During the five day course young people engage in fire and rescue service activities such as hose running drills, fighting fires and search and rescue. They also learn useful day to day skills such as consequences of their actions, manual handling, risk management and fire safety.

North Wales Police Supt Sian Beck and Inspector Dave Jolly went along to a course in Chirk to see the project in action and to show a clip of a new film being made in to raise awareness of the dangers of deliberate fires in Wrexham. 

North Wales Fire and Service have joined up with North Wales Police to create a film aimed at 10-16 year olds to raise awareness of the dangers and consequences of the impact of deliberate fires in the Wrexham area.

Supt Sian Beck said; “The Phoenix Project is a great example of a multi–agency approach to encourage positive behaviour among young people.

 “Arson has been a recurring problem in Wrexham for a number of years. There is a significantly higher level of deliberate fires in the county compared to the rest of North Wales over the past five years.

“We hope that the proactive schemes such as the phoenix project and educational films made in the community for the community will help reduce the incidents or arson in our area.”

Paul Scott, Community Safety Manager for Wrexham and Flintshire, said: "The Fire and Rescue Service has a powerful draw for young people which gives us the opportunity to try and influence behaviour.

“The Phoenix project offers a unique experience to build on qualities we as a Service work towards such as respect, communication and trust.

“The week has involved a blend of classroom learning where the youngsters were taught safety in the home, then drill yard activity where we promote working together as a team, assessing risk and adhering to instructions.

 “The aim of the course is to assist the youngsters in becoming more motivated and positive about themselves, which in turn has the effect of making them better citizens.

"We are hoping that these young people will feel that they have gained something positive from the Phoenix project and feel that it will be of benefit to them in the future.

“It’s great to see North Wales Police involved in the project and we’re committed to working in partnership to tackle the issue of deliberate fires in the Wrexham area.”