The next step

To government guidance on burning materials

[Weblink]

Man set fire to building to avoid demolition costs

Multiple bad choices

Nigel Smith (S) constructed a two-storey building without planning permission at Whittle Colliery in Northumberland. He was subsequently ordered to demolish it, and when he failed to comply with the council’s requirement, he was fined £3,000 and issued with a further enforcement notice. S objected to the cost involved in demolishing the building in a safe and legitimate manner and set about finding creative alternatives. He made contact with Northumberland Fire & Rescue Service (NFRS) and offered use of the building for training purposes. He suggested that it could burn the building down to emulate a real emergency situation. However, the NFRS rejected the idea, citing various problems including that the fire would be too substantial, it was not a controlled environment and the water supply to the site was insufficient.

Making things worse

S then decided to burn down the building himself. To ensure that he didn’t trigger an emergency response, he gave advance warning to the NFRS. On 5 March 2014 he notified it that he would be demolishing a large cabin and burning the timber in manageable amounts. Several members of the public phoned in with concerns about the fire but his tactic worked as no emergency vehicles were sent to the site. On 20 March 2014, he warned again that he would be burning timber from a building. He gave reassurances that he lived on the site, it had a sufficient water supply and he would only start a fire if the wind was blowing in the right direction, away from the nearby A1 road. However, at 8.30pm that day, a crash occurred on the A1 when two drivers became distracted by flames and smoke. The first slowed down his vehicle to call the emergency services and the one behind crashed into the back. The fire took four hours to extinguish and produced a significant amount of smoke. Meanwhile S had disappeared from the site.

In court, S was prosecuted for waste offences for which he received a ten-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months. He was also fined £14,000 with costs of £10,745.

Keep out of trouble

Although this is an extreme example of what can happen if you illegally burn waste, it clearly illustrates the loss of control which can occur if you set fire to something in order to dispose of it.

Tip 1. Other than some minor exceptions (see The next step ) it’s illegal to burn waste. Be very sure that you’re on the right side of the law before you do so, as a large bonfire is quite likely to draw attention and complaints.

Tip 2. Even if you are legally permitted to burn your waste, e.g. because it’s garden waste arising on the land in question, be aware of any additional safety implications. S’s case is not the only one where an individual has been implicated in causing a road traffic accident. In one example there was a prosecution for manslaughter, albeit unsuccessful.

For a link to government guidance on burning materials, visit http://tipsandadvice-environment.co.uk/download (EN 13.03.04).