Fire Services in the North East partner with Crimestoppers to help tackle deliberate fires

FireStoppers is a new way for people who have information about deliberate fires to report via the telephone or online, without having to provide their name or other contact details - meaning they stay 100% anonymous. Always.
 
In recent years, all three Fire Services in the North East have been significantly affected by deliberate fires:

• In 2018 County Durham and Darlington endured 2,695 deliberate fires
• Northumberland saw figures rise by 21.5% to 265 deliberate fires in the first three months of 2019 compared to the same period last year
• Tyne and Wear suffered 5,722 deliberate fires during the year from April 2018 to March 2019 - an annual increase of 2%.

These figures highlight the different challenges each Fire Service has to face, especially when these fires shouldn’t be happening in the first place. They are placing additional stress on the region’s emergency services. Worryingly, the region has twice the national average number of deliberate primary fires (serious fires that harm people or cause damage to property) and 3.5 times the national rate for secondary fires (small outdoor fires, not involving people or property.)

“Following the introduction of the dedicated FireStoppers telephone number in the Easington area in 2018, I was pleased to see a reduction in the cases of arson and deliberate fires, which had been increasing in that area over recent years.

“I’m very proud that County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service was the UK’s first to use this initiative and that we are now working with our fire and rescue partners in Tyne and Wear and Northumberland to expand FireStoppers across the region.”

“Our crews spend a lot of time dealing with arson attacks when our time could be better spent elsewhere.
 
“Deliberate fires affect all of our communities - this new initiative will no doubt help reduce the impact and let us focus on our prevention and protection work across the county.”

Deliberate fires are not only a blight to the local environment and economy, they also present life-risks to those setting the fires and anyone in the vicinity of the fire.

There are countless examples of community areas that can no longer be accessed or have been temporarily put out of use because they have been the focus of a deliberate fire.

“By collaborating with our two neighbouring fire and rescue services, we are committed to working together to tackle deliberate fires - a problem that is affecting local communities and our local economy and placing undue pressure on fire service resources.
 
“Whether it’s wheelie bins being set on fire, or cars being burned out – deliberate fires scar our local environment and present risks to life and health. I believe that FireStoppers will give local residents an effective channel to provide information on deliberate fires which will have a positive impact on reducing their occurrence.”

If you see a fire in progress, call 999 immediately.

 

If you have information regarding an incident and want to remain 100% anonymous, call FireStoppers on 0800 169 5558 or go online at www.firestoppersreport.co.uk.