DUNFERMLINE’S fire station manager has fired a warning to malicious callers: we will smoke you out.

Mark Bryce wants to stub out hoax calls to the fire service and has warned those making false reports that they can and will be disconnected from their phone service provider.

The warning comes after a bogus caller from Oakley rang 999 twice over the weekend of 17th-18th August – with two fire engines sent out only to find there was no emergency.

The number was traced and disconnected after the fire line operator contacted the service provider.

Mr Bryce underlined, “We will get people disconnected if they make malicious calls.

“These calls take away much-needed resources, and puts the lives and safety of others at risk.

“Malicious calls delay us from attending real emergencies, especially if there’s someone who needs to be rescued.” He spoke to the Press following a report to councillors last week on fire stats for South West Fife.

The figures, for 2009-2014, revealed a downward trend in deliberate fires, fire-related casualties and deaths, but a “significant increase” in the number of non-domestic fires.

The report, covering the wards of Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay, Rosyth, and the West Fife villages, showed there had been 97 deliberate fires in the area in 2013/14.

Of this total, 51 occurred in the West Fife villages, with the other two wards seeing 23 each.

However, it was a reduction of 40 per cent on the 167 such incidents reported in 2009/10.

Similarly, 21 homes were accidentally set alight last year, a four-year low.

Out of a total of 16 non-domestic blazes in 2013/14, seven took place in Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay, up from just one the previous year.

Thankfully, there have not been any fire-related deaths since 2011/12.

There has also been a decrease in the number of road accidents and flooding incidents, which dropped by almost 25 per cent and 66 per cent respectively last year.

Road accidents came down from 24 in 2012/13 to 17 in 2013/14, while flooding accidents fell from 21 to seven.

But the total of false alarms – made with good intent or maliciously – rose to 169 in 2013/14 from 161 the previous year.

Rosyth saw the biggest rise, from 59 to 70, although the report said this was due to “a local issue which has now been dealt with”.