Fireworks and anti-social behaviour have often gone hand-in-hand in Edinburgh recent years, but seldom have we witnessed the level of chaos that erupted across the capital on Bonfire Night 2017. Remember, remember the 5th of November? We'll never forget it.
Five years ago we saw an evening of widespread disorder, as gangs of up to 50 youths in Craigentinny, Leith, and Drylaw went on the rampage, throwing fireworks at members of the public and property and leaving a trail of burning cars.
Over a three-hour period, Edinburgh's emergency services were inundated with more than 250 calls as the night of terror unfolded. One Craigentinny resident compared the shocking scenes of public disorder to The Troubles in Belfast, while others spoke of how they were too frightened to leave their homes for fear of being attacked by the mob.
CCTV captured gangs of teenagers in masks and dark hoods setting fire to vehicles and aiming fireworks at people passing by. In one reported incident, a taxi driver fled when youths tried to put fireworks under the body of his cab.
Fire crew were even forced to flee the area as the masked mob threatened to attack them with fireworks and other projectiles. In Drylaw, a female police officer was reportedly struck in the neck by a firework, leaving her permanently scarred. A police convoy was also attacked.
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A member of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was quoted as saying they hadn't seen a Bonfire Night of wanton destruction and violence quite like it in all their career, as the youths caused an estimated £40,000 worth of damage.
Former Edinburgh crime reporter Andy Shipley spoke to us about the "utter mayhem" that marred large parts of Edinburgh that evening, describing it as resembling "a warzone".
He said: "It was utter mayhem, there's no other way to describe it really. On the night itself, news started filtering through social media and various sources that trouble was brewing. It soon became apparent it was more serious than the occasional banger going off. One source text me to say simply 'Pilton is on fire'.
"You could hear the stress and confusion in the voices of emergency call centre staff who were taking calls from all over the city.
"Only the next morning did the full scale emerge. A police officer hit in the neck by a rocket as yobs faced off riot cops on waste land between Muirhouse and Pilton - car thieves driving a nicked motor onto a bonfire in Lochend - it was madness.
"I've been to war zones and major disasters abroad with my work and some of the scenes and accounts from families cowering in their homes were familiar.
"I remember chatting to one young couple next to the still smoking remains of their family car - their toddler's seat melted on the backseat. With shock and fear in their eyes they told me how they cradled their young child behind the settee as yobs torched their car on the driveway. They said they were moving out that week."
Police launched an investigation in the days following the chaos. They searched more than a dozen addresses in the north of Edinburgh and made multiple arrests. Five youths would later plead guilty in court to participating in the disorder.
The force later announced the creation of nine Bonfire Night dispersal zones throughout the capital to avoid a repeat of the unprecedented scenes witnessed in 2017. Running in Muirhouse, West Pilton, Portobello, Loganlea, Saughton, Gorgie, Gilmerton, Moredun and Southhouse between November 4 to November 6, Operation Crackle enables officers to instruct groups of two or more people deemed to be congregating or behaving in an antisocial manner to disperse.
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