After reading this article i was a little bemused, ive no doubt that plenty of bins may have been stolen and set alight, and i can understand the reasons why youths are doing that. What i dont understand is how the police can in all honesty claim this is done to gain some kind of high of the fumes. The article makes no mention of any evidence for this aspect from a vague reference to bus shelter sniffing in scotland
It all sounds like scare mongering incompetance from the police to me!
Last edited by omnicans; 04-04-2007 at 23:14.
Reason: z
I don't understand why the op feels it is incompetance by the the police...they may or may not be right about the motivations behind the arsons but why incompetance?
That's hillarious! - two days late for an April fool though.
Surely if it's actually true that people are setting bins (or bus-stops) on fire, the motivation is just the thrill of vandalism, not getting high off the fumes?!!
1. How on earth would you go about "Sniffing" the fumes off a wheely bin fire? you'd have a job on getting close enough to the fire, and at the distance you'd have to stand, the fumes would be so diluted that surely the effects would be zero
2. If sniffing plastic was the new "Drug of choice" surely setting fire to plastic bags, bottles etc. in a small controlled fire would mean that they would be able to control the flow of fumes better?
sounds like a load o cr@p to me. clearly no one has thought this through before they said it publically. The kids who are doing it must be laughing their t*ts off now!
Sounds like a load of balls to me. Most likely they just want to play with a bit of fire. harmless fun really
Not harmless fun really - it wasn't long ago that 3 members of a family were killed in lowedges/batemoor after some youths set fire to their wheelie bin. Any fire is dangerous and of its nature, impossible to control. Quite rightly, the Courts treat any offence of arson as very serious - another reason why it shouldn't be seen as harmless fun - they could end up in prison for anything up to a number of years.
The practice of sniffing plastic fumes does happen on bus shelters & wheelie bins the idea is to get a small area bubbling to gas off. The resulting fire is a side effect of the ignition as once it takes hold the gases in the smoke become too noxious & deadly as well as been dam hot.
I have seen a number of bin fires in buildings & the smoke is very thick & acrid, the practice does happen but has been misunderstood by the media as you cannot sniff a bin when on fire.
Incidently if you come across a plastic bin on fire don't be tempted to poor water on it whilst standing next to it, the rapid cooling of the melted plastic expands & causes severe "flare up" leave it to the professionals.
