BRADFORD has some of the highest numbers of arson incidents in the country, with a report saying a mix of “deprivation and anti-social behaviour” has led to some areas becoming major hot spots.
And one firefighter told a meeting on Friday that arson incidents are the “bane” of West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service.
The fire service has published a report into the incidents firefighters have been called out to in the past year.
It revealed that while overall fire incidents are down, Bradford still remains an area with a high amount of deliberate blazes.
Around two thirds of the call outs to blazes in Bradford are related to deliberate fires – although many are low level, such as rubbish fires or low level bonfires.
The report claims that high levels of fly-tipping is leading to a large number of “secondary arsons” – deliberate fires that don’t involve homes or vehicles, in some parts of the district.
Among the areas flagged up as having high levels of such fires are the city centre, Bowling and Barkerend, Eccleshill and the Tong ward, which includes Holme Wood.
The report reveals that of the 1,469 fires that crews in Bradford have been called out to since April 1, 965 (66 per cent) have been classed as deliberate.
This was, however, 166 less than the average of the past three years.
It goes on to say the high number of call outs were diverting the fire service away from carrying out prevention activities, such as home safety visits.
Notable arson incidents in Bradford since April include a large fire at Richard Dunn sports centre in July, a blaze at Barkerend Mills in August and an incident in Wibsey last month where two cars were consumed by flames.
The report was discussed at a meeting of West Yorkshire Fire Authority’s Community Safety Committee on Friday.
Members were told that the service would use the findings of a report into arson by the National Fire Chief’s Council to help guide policy on how to reduce deliberate blazes.
Area Manager Scott Donegan told the committee that the number of fire call outs had reduced in the past year – partly due to this past Summer being much wetter than last year.
But he added: “Deliberate fires continue to be the bane of West Yorkshire.”
The section of the report looking specifically at Bradford says: "Deliberate fires in Bradford are amongst the highest in the country and account for 965 mobilisations.
“There are many social and economic factors that influence the prevalence of arson and deliberate fire setting and therefore it is vital we work with the local authority, neighbourhood policing Teams and other partners in Bradford.
"Demand from responding to arson and deliberate fires also has a negative impact on the capacity to deliver prevention and protection activities so it is paramount we work to drive these incident numbers down.
“The National Fire Chiefs Council has produced the Arson and Deliberate Fire Reduction strategy. This strategy will support and inform Bradford's actions to reduce risk and vulnerability, adopt best practice seen in other parts of the country with a view of reducing arson and deliberate fire setting and develop sustainable long-term strategies.”
It goes on to say fly-tipping can be a major contributor to arson. “Refuse and waste has been identified as a problem across Bradford.
“Bradford District team acknowledge the scale of the problem and have been working hard with our ward officers and cleansing teams to literally ‘clean up Bradford’.
“A data led approach is used to target areas and we have seen some positive results in the worst hit areas.
“Depravation mixed with anti-social behaviour has led to high numbers of deliberate secondary fires in areas such as Bowling and Barkerend, Eccleshill, Tong and City ward.
“Crews have been able to track patterns from data and share this information with partners. E.g., Bowling & Barkerend have more incidents on Wednesdays between 19:00 – 20:00 and on Saturdays between 17:00 – 18:00.
“This information is extremely valuable especially when shared with West Yorkshire Police. This allows them to provide extra patrols at the appropriate locations and times.
“Bradford district team have been working with local authority Youth Intervention teams to educate more than 350 pupils. This has allowed targeted input to those students that may have been drawn into anti social behaviour over the bonfire period.”
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