Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the county of Merseyside in north-west England and is the statutory Fire and Rescue Authority responsible for all 999 fire brigade calls in Sefton, Knowsley, St. Helens, Liverpool and Wirral.

In the on-going fight against arson-related incidents, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service is using the Tiger LT photoionisation detectors (PIDs) from ION Science leading manufacturer of high performance gas detection instrumentation for global occupational health and environmental monitoring applications to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from ignitable liquids that have been used in the development of a fire.

A long-standing user of ION Science PID instruments for more than 10 years, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service originally used the company’s PID FirstCheck 1000+. When these became obsolete, they purchased two Tiger PIDs and have recently added two Tiger LT units to their growing portfolio of ION Science VOC monitors.

Ian Mullen, Station Manager at Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, Incident Investigation:

“The instruments are a tool to assist in the detection of the presence of ignitable liquids. This also allows the Police CSI to take a sample from a ‘confirmed’ area of post-fire ignitable liquids which can be sent for lab analysis. The Tiger PIDs perform well. Our fire investigators take an instrument to each and every one of the 300 plus incidents they attend each year.”