Deliberate Fires, 2008

Statistics on deliberate fire incidents include data for Wales for the period 2000 to 2008. The latest release updates the statistics previously released on 11 August 2009.

The key points from the latest release are:

Fires:

• The Welsh Fire and Rescue Services attended a little under 3,100 deliberate primary fires in 2008, a decrease of 58 per cent from the highest which was in 2001.
• Between 2000 and 2008, 65 per cent of deliberate fires were in South Wales, 23 per cent in Mid and West Wales, and 12 per cent were in North Wales.
• Between 2000 and 2008 about 1 in 7 deliberate fires in Wales occurred in April.

Vehicles:

• In 2008, there were 2,000 primary fires started deliberately in vehicles, a decrease of 61 per cent from its peak in 2003.

School fires:

• In 2008, there were 14 deliberate fires in schools, all of which occurred during school hours.

Source and Hazardous Materials:

• Furniture and furnishings were the materials first ignited in 43 per cent of deliberate primary fires between 2000 and 2008.
• Of the dangerous substances in deliberate primary fires between 2000 and 2008, 32 per cent were petrol and 25 per cent were rigid plastic (excluding foam).

Casualties:

• Between 2000 and 2008, there were 42 fatal casualties and 1,126 nonfatal casualties in deliberate fires.

Prevention:

• Between 2000 and 2008, sprinklers were present 370 times before the Fire and Rescue Service arrived.

Contact

Tel: 029 2082 3371
E-mail: stats.inclusion@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Next update

August 2011 (provisional - to be confirmed on Due Out Soon page)