A FIRE crew has issued yet another appeal for consideration, after extinguishing a deliberately-set fire in a woodland.

On Sunday night (June 13), the crew from Carlisle East Fire Station was called to reports of a fire in the woods near Carleton Clinic.

It is believed the fire was burning for some time before the team extinguished it.

While at the scene, fire fighters came across a further four previously-lit fires – “at least”.

Sharing details of the callout on social media, a spokesperson said: “We have attended numerous deliberately lit fires in this area recently, and between arriving on scene, leaving the appliance and walking to the seat of last night’s fire (approximately 100m), we passed the remains of at least four previously lit fires.

“These deliberate fires tie up our resources, and whilst we are dealing with these, someone who genuinely needs our help will receive a delayed response, which could literally be the difference between life and death.”

This is the second time in just one week that the crew has been called to extinguish deliberate fires, as they also tackled a blaze taking hold of 50 tonnes of straw on Warwick Road last week (June 9).

And Carlisle East watch manager, Paul Dean, has issued a further appeal, pleading with the public to "think about what they're doing".

"We do get frustrated with it – we just want people to be careful, and think about where they're starting fires, because if they're set in the wrong places, they can spread and cause wildfires," he said.

"When we talk to youths, they'll say 'we started the fire to keep us warm', but fire is so dangerous to be playing with, and because we have to deal with their fire, it holds us up when we need to be dealing with much more serious fires.

"One of their family members could be in a house fire, but instead we're wasting resources to extinguish one that didn't need to be set in the first place.

He continued: "June is fire safety month, so we're asking everyone to think about what they're doing when they light a fire, and make sure things like barbecues and cigarettes are properly extinguished before throwing them away.

"The ground is so dry at the moment, so one spark can make it up go up like that.

"We just want people to please think about their actions, and consider what it will mean for people who are trapped in a real emergency but have to wait for our assistance because of a deliberate fire."