To the horror of local firefighters, the act of book burning was undertaken by GCSE students in Lancashire to celebrate the end of their exams.
Pupils set fire to their textbooks, sparking three fires in one night in Preston last week.
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service has urged pupils to donate or sell their textbooks rather than burning them.
A speaker encouraged students to earn money by selling their books instead of setting them on fire.
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Along with a photo of a firefighter putting out a fire, they posted: “Every time I found GCSE subject books burning in different places. Celebrate the end of school by all means, but how about earning a few beans by selling them instead?”
In a similar post on Twitter, the fire service said: “Firefighters in Preston have responded to several calls recently involving burning GCSE books. There are better ways to complete your exams! We recommend donating, selling, or simply recycling books you don’t want.”
Firefighters in Preston have responded to several calls recently involving burning GCSE textbooks.
There are better ways to celebrate the completion of your exams! We recommend donating, selling, or simply recycling books you don’t want. #FireSafety #Preston pic.twitter.com/8tFxdE17Jc
— Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (@LancashireFRS) July 3, 2022
Millions of 15- and 16-year-olds finished their exams earlier this month and split up for an extended summer holiday. Book burning has become a tradition for many students completing their exams.
In 2019, a group of teenagers in Bolton accidentally set fire to a bandstand when they were burning their textbooks after their final GCSE exams.
The same thing happened in Wolstanton in north Staffordshire that year, when firefighters found charred notebooks – with names still visible – among the debris.
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