Southport Bonfire Night: Fire Service Asks Parents to Check

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service is asking parents and carers in Southport, Formby and across the county to know where their children are this Bonfire Night, after crews were attacked with fireworks and missiles during last year’s bonfire season.

The service, which covers the whole of Merseyside from its headquarters on Bridle Road in Bootle, issued the appeal on Thursday 29 October (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service).

What happened to crews last year

The service says it attended two “violence at work” incidents on Bonfire Night 2025. One was at Knowsley Heights, where a woman was struck in the face by a firework. A fire had started there when a firework came into contact with combustible materials on a balcony, and the firefighters who arrived were also targeted with fireworks.

A month earlier, in October 2025, crews were attacked on two consecutive nights. On 6 October, fireworks were deliberately aimed at firefighters responding to a fire in Beechwood, Wirral: three firefighters suffered temporary hearing loss and a fire engine was damaged. The next evening, another fire engine was damaged when youths threw a piece of wood at it as crews left an incident at Walton Hall Park in Walton.

None of the incidents the service describes was in Southport or Formby.

What the fire service is asking

Craig Whitfield, the service’s Group Manager for Community Safety, said:

“Our firefighters are there to protect our communities, not to be attacked while doing their job. It’s completely unacceptable. We’re asking parents and carers to know where their children are, who they’re with, and what they’re doing, particularly at this time of year when we often see increases in anti-social behaviour.”

He added:

“Every deliberate fire takes resources away from real emergencies and every attack on our crews puts lives at risk. Please talk to young people about the dangers of playing with fire or fireworks, and the very real consequences of anti-social behaviour.”

The service is asking people to:

• go to organised, public bonfire and firework displays rather than lighting their own;
• report unlit bonfires, or fly-tipped rubbish that could be set alight, to the local council or through the fire service’s report an unlit bonfire page;
• talk to children and young people about fire safety and about respecting the emergency services.

It says it is working with Merseyside Police, local councils and community partners to remove potential bonfire material, prevent illegal fires and encourage people to go to organised events.

Deliberate fires fell by two thirds last year

The appeal comes after a sharp fall. The service says crews attended 67.3% fewer deliberately set fires on Bonfire Night 2025 than on Bonfire Night 2024, and incidents across the wider bonfire period fell by 67.6%. It counts that period as 19 October to 5 November. The service says it wants that progress to continue.

Organised displays near Southport

For families looking for an organised display, Southport RFC on Waterloo Road holds its fireworks on Friday 6 November, and Firwood Waterloo Rugby Club in Blundellsands has a display the same night. Times, prices and travel are in our Southport Bonfire Night guide.

Reporting anti-social behaviour

The service asks anyone with information about people involved in anti-social behaviour to report it. For anything that is not an emergency, use Merseyside Police’s non-emergency channels: AI Bobbi on the Merseyside Police website, 101, or @MerPolCC on X or Facebook. If a crime is in progress, a life is at risk or someone is in danger, call 999.

For fire safety advice, or if you do not have working smoke alarms, call Fire Service Direct on 0800 731 5958. More Halloween and Bonfire Night safety advice is on the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service website.