Rise in deliberate fires across Teesside
More than 900 deliberate fires were recorded in Hartlepool over the past year, an increase of around 60% compared to the 12 months prior.
It comes as Cleveland Fire Brigade chiefs stressed numerous steps are in place to help clampdown on deliberate fires in the region, including working with partners, schools and following their arson reduction strategy.
The latest meeting of the fire authority audit and governance committee on Friday (June 24) heard in 2021/22 there were a total 4,532 deliberate fires across Cleveland.
This was an increase on the 3,201 recorded the previous year, which was hit by Covid-19 restrictions, and also the five year average of 3,253.
Hartlepool saw the biggest percentage increase in deliberate fires across the brigade region over the past 12 months, with the 915 recorded between April 2021 and March 2022 a 62.5% rise on the 564 incidents in 2020/21.
Around 90% of deliberate blazes in Hartlepool, equating to 819 incidents, were secondary fires, such as people setting alight loose rubbish, bins or grass, which is in line with the breakdown across Cleveland.
Tim Graham, brigade head of risk and performance, said 46% of all incidents attended were deliberate fires, which was a “stark statistic”, with the majority being refuse related.
He said: “Secondary fires are not a risk to life, but a drain on resources.”
Carl Boasman, assistant chief fire officer, added partnership working and communicating with schools to educate young people are examples of work being done to help reduce deliberate incidents.
He said: “They are a blight on our communities. We don’t ever take our focus off that, however behaviour change is difficult to impact, we won’t do that as an agency on our own.”
He added they are “confident they are going in the right direction” to address the challenges they face in this area.
Cllr Lynn Hall, Stockton-on-Tees representative, added it is crucial they educate young people very early on the dangers of fires.
Increases in deliberate fires were logged across the board in 2021/22, with the largest number of incidents being seen in Middlesbrough, where 1,660 cases were recorded, a 41% rise on the 1,160 in the 12 months prior.
Meanwhile Redcar and Cleveland saw deliberate fires rise by a third from 844 to 1,130, and Stockton saw a 30% increase from 633 to 827.