Facts & Figures

Arson remains a major fire threat in England and Wales with an overall estimated cost to the economy of £2.53 billion per annum. In the last decade there have been about 2.3 million deliberate fires resulting in 25,000 injuries and over 900 deaths.

On an average week in England its communities suffer:

Over 1,200 serious (primary) fires
50 injuries
2 deaths
A cost to society of over £45 million

School Arson

Each year in England schools suffer 1,200 recorded fires, and 60% of those have been deliberately started. Half of these deliberately started fires are started during school hours.

Latest West Midlands Arson Figures

	2001/2	2002/3₁	2003/4	2004/5	2005/6₂	2006/7	2007/8
Arson fires in dwellings	1,068	940	950	792	672	613	558
Arson fires in buildings other than dwellings	1,096	943	1,003	770	644	624	465
Arson vehicle fires	4,898	4,753	4,078	3,156	2,519	1,890	1,578
Outdoor (secondary) arson fires	13,466	14,366	19,347	10,872	11,593	13,082	9,659
The number of malicious false alarm calls received	8,519	7,733	7,336	6,546	6,471	5,857	5,130
The number of malicious false alarm calls attended	5,176	4,353	4,069	3,215	2,896	2,574	2,158
The number of injuries from fires	391	405	360	312	278	250	215

	Difference 2001/2 to 2007/8	% Difference 2001/2 to 2007/8
Arson fires in dwellings	-510	-47.8%
Arson fires in buildings other than dwellings	-631	-57.6%
Arson vehicle fires	-3,320	-67.8%
Outdoor (secondary) arson fires	-3,807	-28.3%
The number of malicious false alarm calls received	-3,018	-39.8%
The number of malicious false alarm calls attended	-3,018	-58.8%
The number of injuries from fires	-176	-45.0%
₁ This data excludes the 10 days of industrial action in 2002 and 2003 ₂ This data excludes the 9 hours of industrial action in November 2005

Please note the figures are compared to financial year 2001/02 as per our main target of arson reduction.

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