FIREFIGHTING engineers have been testing their skills by setting light to wheelie bins to discover the effect such fires have on the environment Members of Cleveland Fire Brigade's Fire Engineering Academy will perform the tests to help find a solution.

The academy also aims to work with youngsters to give them an understanding of fire engineering principles and how it can be used to solve problems.

Noel Cornforth, station manager in fire engineering, said: "We are the first brigade in the country to take an active role in this field.

"The students are encouraged to show creativity, enterprise and innovation while gaining experience of problem solving, team working and project management."

In the brigade area, 90 per cent of fires are arson which often includes wheelie bins.

Mr Cornforth said: "The problem we have set for the students is to analyse the adverse effect that fires in wheelie bins have on society and the environment due to the products of combustion that are released into the atmosphere and the contaminants that enter water courses and drains through contaminated fire water runoff.

"They are also calculating the energy that is being wasted and researching possible alternative materials for the bins and other possible solutions to the problem."