Fire-setting can happen for many reasons.
Fire-setting can happen for many reasons – in a hospital or prison for emotional reasons; out of malice, vandalism, to cover up a crime, or for insurance fraud; or even a security officer starting a fire so that he can deal with it and gain kudos from his employer. Nearly one in eight schools suffer arson in any year, researchers estimate. Fire safety, the research suggests, is partly a matter of security management – denying arsonists opportunity, and preventing unauthorised access to premises.
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Who commits arson
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Ways to combat arson revolve around intervening against the sort of people who may commit arson, and by ‘hardening’ possible arson targets. So says an academic study of arson. Youngsters are responsible for more than a third of all arson attacks on cars and property. Crimes like joyriding and insurance fraud are behind nearly half of all burned-out vehicle fires. So says The Burning Issue: Research and Strategies for Reducing Arson published by the Government-led Arson Control Forum (ACF). The research calls for a multi-agency approach to pinpoint causes of arson and devise strategies. Building managers should work to Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations, 1997.
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The numbers
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The number of malicious fires has doubled over the last decade to become the largest, single cause of major fires in this country with brigades reporting more than 100,000 incidents in the past year: 32,000 against property, 70,000 against vehicles.<br>
The ACF, targeted with reducing incidences of arson by 30 per cent within the ten years ending in March 2009, commissioned research by psychologist Prof David Canter of Liverpool University to find out what motivates the fire-starter.<br>
The findings reveal four main factors: youth disorder – children playing with fire, vandalism; malicious – revenge attacks, hate crime; emotional expression – mental illness, personality orders and depression; criminal – for financial gain or to conceal crimes. Prof Canter adds: ‘Some individuals may set fires to enhance themselves in the eyes of employers by pretending to discover and deal with the fire they actually started, to show willingness and loyalty. Arsonists who commit this type of arson may be male security guards, inexperienced police officers or retained fire fighters between 25 and 35. A well-known example is the case of Fleur Lombard, the first female fire fighter to die on peacetime duty, in a Bristol supermarket fire in 1996. A security guard was later jailed for manslaughter and arson.’
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Youth disorder
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The report also begins to quantify the proportion of deliberate fires that can be attributed to various motivations. For example, 45 per cent of malicious vehicle fires stem from other crimes such as destroying evidence or insurance fraud. Prof Canter highlights the importance of tackling youth disorder and estimates that young fire-raisers start 36pc of deliberate property fires and 39pc of deliberate vehicle fires. However, Prof Canter puts the police clear-up rate for arson at a mere eight per cent; so much is speculation. Launching the publication, the Minister responsible for fire safety in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Chris Leslie, said: ‘This new research report is part of an ongoing campaign aimed at developing ways of preventing arson and also dealing with its consequences more rapidly and effectively. Understanding what motivates the arsonist is vital in order to produce successful strategies to fight this increasing menace. Those on the lowest incomes face arson rates 31 times higher than average and are 16 times more likely to die as a result of a fire which is why tackling arson and the causes of arson is key to making our communities, especially in already deprived areas, safer and better places to live and work. Download a copy at www.safety.odpm.gov.uk/fire/rds/index.htm
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About the ACF
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The Arson Control Forum was established in 2000, chaired by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Fire Services, Sir Graham Meldrum. Two vice Chairman are Peter Maddison, Hertfordshire Deputy Chief Constable and Jane Milne, of the Association of British Insurers. The forum has a budget of £3.5m over three years from April 2001, for research into the causes and prevention of arson, but most to fund fire brigade anti-arson projects and partnerships with the police and other local groups. The cost of arson fires in England and Wales in 1999 was estimated in a recent Home Office report at £2.1 billion. In the last ten years, there have been around 1.8 million arson fires, resulting in 22,000 injuries and 1,100 deaths. See also the neighbourhood renewal unit –
