'Eye-watering' £2.9million cost of arson in Hartlepool mainly down to grassland and rubbish fires, say fire chiefs

Cleveland Fire Brigade bosses said arson is a ‘blight on neighbourhoods’ and estimated it cost to the service’s area was £17.9million in 2018/19.

Hartlepool saw 627 incidents of arson in that period, accounting for 17% of Cleveland’s deliberate fires, with the economic cost to the town listed as £2.9million.

Fire chiefs said the two main issues in the town were refuse and grassland fires.

From 2009 to 2013 deliberate fires in the brigade area saw slight reductions, but since 2013/14 they have been on the rise, increasing from 2,687 to 3,656 in 2018/19, a five-year increase of 36%.

Deliberate fires accounted for 85% of the 4,302 fires attended in 2018/19, compared to a national average of around 50%.

Fire authority chiefs have drawn up an arson reduction strategy for 2020-24, which was presented to the Cleveland Fire executive committee.

An arson reduction conference is to take place in March 2020 to officially launch the strategy, with guest speakers including Dame Vera Baird QC, Victims Commissioner.

Ian Hayton, Cleveland chief fire officer, said: “It’s a real issue that we certainly need to address here, and this strategy is therefore intended to do that.

“It endangers life, it damages property, it causes destruction to the local environment, it blights on our neighbourhoods and it has a real detrimental effect on the people of our community and our local authorities.

“Arson is not something that this authority or the fire service can solve on its own, it has to be through a collective approach.

A fundamental part of the strategy is an action plan looking to secure a partnership agreement to tackle the issue with support from councils and police.

The rate of deliberate fires per 10,000 of the population in Cleveland is 65 incidents, more than four times the national average of 15.

The most prevalent fires in relation to arson in Cleveland include refuse, grassland and vehicle fires.

It was also noted how deprivation, which impacts many areas covered by the fire brigade, contributes to the high rates of arson.