Deliberate fires across the UK continue to waste valuable resources and put lives at risk, despite Fire and Rescue Services across the UK attending fewer incidents than last year. Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue has been revealed as attending over 11,000 incidents since 2019 by a new investigation, with many of these being deliberate fires.

Primary and secondary fires

Figures obtained by Public Interest Lawyers found that the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service has attended 11,544 primary and secondary fires over the past five years, with around 40% of these being deliberate fires.

Primary fires are potentially more serious fires that cause harm to people or damage to property.  Secondary fires are generally small outdoor fires, not involving people or property and these include refuse fires, grassland fires and fires in derelict buildings or vehicles.

In 2019/20, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service attended 2,487 primary and secondary fires, the second-highest number of fires in the past five years. Two years later, this number decreased to 2,028, caused by restrictions and lockdowns during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Service has experienced a drop in primary and secondary fires over the past year, with a total of 1,921.

Deliberate fires

Fire Rescue Services (FRSs) attended 600,324 incidents in the year ending March 2024, a decrease of 3.6% compared with the previous year (622,659).  Of these incidents, there were 138,977 fires, which was a decrease of 22% compared with the previous year (178,867).

Despite this positive drop in fires across the UK, a worrying percentage of these incidents are deliberate fires, which can lead to injuries and fatalities.

In the Public Interest Lawyers research 40% of primary and secondary fires were found to be deliberate fires. Victims of deliberate fires may lose all their property, become homeless or be seriously injured. The impact of arson is not just financial; it can also significantly affect a person’s emotional well-being and sense of security.

As highlighted by the Public Interest Lawyers, deliberately set fires are dangerous and are a criminal offence. They waste time, money and keep fire crews away from real emergencies. Deliberately set fires commonly include bins, skips, fly-tipped waste, derelict buildings, dry grass and heathland.

The impact across Hertfordshire

The Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service has recorded 34 deliberate fire injuries since 2019. The highest annual total was eight in 2021/22 and 2022/23.

Whilst the impact of lockdowns in 2021 may have depressed the number of deliberate cases, the figures show that not only is arson the leading single cause of the fire but highlight the extent to which the increasing threat of arson must be taken seriously.

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service covers a wide area, which is divided into districts. Based on figures gathered from the service, the district where the most fires have occurred since 2019 is Dacorum at 1,581. East Hertfordshire, North Hertfordshire and Welwyn Hatfied District’s also experienced over 1,300 incidents.

Rise in deliberate fires attended by Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service

Since 2019, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service have attended an increased amount of deliberate fires, over 4,500 out of the 11,544 incidents. Meaning that deliberate fires made up over 40% of the incidents attended by the Service.