Thousands of fires are started in just a year

THERE have been nearly 6,000 incidents of people deliberately starting fires over a 12-month period in Wales.

The figures cover all three of the fire services in Wales: South Wales, North Wales and Mid and West Wales Fire Services over the last financial year (2016/17).

A freedom of information request revealed the location – accurate to within 100m – of all the acts of arson that have taken place.

The figures show that over a 12 month period:

Six people started blazes; 75 people were injured; 216 days (5,200 hours) of firefighters’ time was wasted; and 5,936 fires were started deliberately On average, just over 16 deliberate fires were started a day across Wales.

Group Manager Matt Jones, head of the fire crime unit for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said: “The reduction in deliberate fire setting across our communities in south Wales is positive and can be attributed to the hard work of our firefighters, community safety teams and died in deliberately partners such as Gwent and South Wales Police.

“We continue to highlight the devastating effects of arson with our education and intervention programs and our close working relationships with communities and partners.

“Arson is a crime and can have significant affects on our communities and the landscapes as well as impacting and costing lives.

“South Wales Fire and Rescue Service will continue to work hard with our partners and communities to stamp out arson and prevent the devastation it causes to communities and lives. We would urge members of the public if they have any information on deliberate fire setting they can contact CrimeStoppers Wales on 0800 555 111.”

Two methods are used for defining the number of minutes spent at the scene of each fire. Method one is calculated by comparing the time the first vehicle arrived at the scene with the time the call is closed.

Fire crews may not have been in attendance for the full duration shown as some incidents are closed after follow up inspections, which may be days after the initial incident.

Method two compares the time of call with the time when the fire service stopped mobilising.

Method one is used in this article.