Last year, London Fire Brigade attended the lowest number of deliberate fires in 20 years, but firefighters are concerned that this number could rise over the summer holidays due to fire setting. This comes as a significant grass fire in Feltham last week is believed to have been started deliberately and as the Met Office issues an amber weather warning for extreme heat in London.
The Brigade has seen more than a 90 per cent reduction in the number of deliberate fires since 2001, with firefighters attending 2,236 deliberate fires last year in comparison to 33,497 deliberate fires in 2001. The overall reduction in fires since 2001 has been less steep, dropping by just over 70 per cent and now firefighters are facing new challenges, like the wildfires seen last month.
Despite the long-term trend, the Brigade is concerned that the number of deliberate grass fires could spike further over this year’s summer holidays, particularly given the period of hot weather London has seen which has made the ground tinder dry and is expected to continue. Firefighters have been sharing fire safety advice with young people and their families at community events over the summer; however, they are now asking parents and carers to help by speaking to their children about the dangers of setting fires in a bid to protect the capital’s parks and green spaces.
On Tuesday 19 July, the Brigade declared a major incident due to the scale and frequency of fires, including grass fires, occurring across the capital. Firefighters have already attended more than 425 deliberate grass and open land fires this year, including on Hatton Road in Feltham last week, which saw around six hectares of land damaged by the blaze and sent plumes of smoke across west London.
The reduction in deliberate fires since 2001 is linked to the introduction of the first Community Safety Strategy, which changed the focus of the Brigade from being a mainly reactive emergency response service to a proactive service with fire prevention at the core of its activities. 2001 also saw the introduction of the Brigade’s Firesetters Intervention Scheme which has since seen over 4,000 referrals.
Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety, Charlie Pugsley, said: “The reduction in deliberate fires is a testament to the hard work of our education and fire safety teams who have a long-standing history of delivering a number of children and youth engagement, intervention and education schemes in order to reduce fire risk and raise awareness of fire safety.
“However, we are still seeing too many fires being started deliberately. The last few years has certainly shown us how important our parks and green spaces are, with many of us spending more time than ever outdoors with friends and loved ones, so we need Londoners to help look after them.
“Whilst the dry and sunny spells of weather will be great for families looking to spend time outside over the summer holidays, it also means that the risk of grass fires is going to increase as the ground becomes dryer. Talk to your children about how dangerous it is to play with fire, keep matches and lighters out of sight and if you’re worried about a child or young person who has set fires get in touch with our Firesetters Intervention Scheme (FIS).”
Other common ways that grass fires start are through barbecues as well as glass bottles that have been littered (glass bottles can focus the sun’s rays like a magnifying glass). Disposable barbecues can get extremely hot, and the coals or charcoal can stay hot for hours after they’ve been used, easily causing grass fires if they’re not disposed of carefully. London’s Fire Commissioner Andy Roe has already written to local authorities asking for a temporary ban on the use of barbecues in all public parks and open spaces. The Brigade now wants to work with retailers to stop the sale of these dangerous items and reduce the risk of devastating grass fires.
Grass fires can be particularly dangerous because dry grassland can burn and spread very quickly. If dry grass is smouldering, call 999 immediately so that firefighters can act as fast as possible to prevent flames from spreading.
If there are concerns about a child or young person playing with or setting fire: