North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue preparing for more arson attacks this Summer
The emergency service dealt with 116 deliberate fires in July and August last year, and are expecting that number to rise.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service say they're offering free fire setting psychology to help educate people and prevent deliberate fires.
They dealt with 116 deliberate fires in July and August last year, and say the pandemic has meant more people are staying in - and visiting - North Yorkshire this year - making more arson attacks likely.
Adam Farrow is the Watch Manager of Prevention for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service: "Every major holiday - particularly in the Summer - we see a rise in deliberate fires in the open, quite often set by young people.
"With the heatwave that we've gone through it adds a different dynamic because everything is so dry. A small fire could easily grow in size and spread out of control, and we don't want any wildfires.
"The pandemic has meant more people are spending time in England, so we're seeing tourism numbers go up in North Yorkshire; we're expecting a rise in deliberate fires because of that".
Adam says they want to help educate young people from an early age to raise awareness: "We're also speaking to parents and guardians to help be vigilant and see where lighters and matches might be kept if their children have been involved with fires before.
"We offer 'Fire Safe ' - a free educational service; it doesn't put anything on anyone's record and won't hinder job prospects in the future. It's just us as a professional service working with the young person and with the family to help combat that fire setting psychology".