Deliberate Fire Setting

Fires set deliberately have a significant effect on the local economy, damage the environment, destroy property, and can, in the worst cases, take someone's life.

Each year Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service attends around 2,000 deliberate fires. These range from fires in bins, skips, fly-tipped waste, grasslands and fields, barns, and haystacks, to properties and buildings. These cost the fire service and local organisations and businesses money; however, the true cost could potentially be even more significant. If fire service resources are tied up at this type of fire, it may mean a delay in attending a more serious incident.

Small fires can spread very quickly, and often much quicker than expected. What may have been intended to be just a small fire or just a bit of fun, can quickly spread to become out of control. Deliberate fires can result in an injury to the person setting the fire, or others who may become trapped by a rapidly developing fire. People have been killed as a result of deliberate fire setting.

The following information gives advice on how you can help prevent deliberate fires to help keep you, your family, and your community safe.

Report any suspicious activity to CRIMESTOPPERS on 0800 555 111, or by calling the Police 101 number
Report any build-up of rubbish, or fly-tipping, to your local authority's Environmental Health department
Do not store flammable items, such as recycling waste close to your property or business
Have skips collected once full
Wherever possible keep your bin in a safe, secure place, and don't leave your bin out for collection longer than is necessary
Ensure commercial bins are secured when not in use and stored away from buildings. Lock them, where possible, overnight
Do not leave lighters, or matches, where children could reach them
Ensure you are aware of where your children and young people are and what they are doing
Make sure that your children are aware of the risks of playing with fire and the consequences of deliberately setting a fire. This could include injuring or killing themselves or someone else, and/or being left with a criminal record

Engagement

Deliberate fires often spike around the time of school holidays, particularly the long summer break. Deliberate fires are often set by children and young people. This is why we work with schools and community groups across the county to provide education on the dangers and consequences of deliberate fire setting.

Deliberate Firesetting

You may notice deliberate fire setting through behaviours or occurrences such as:

A child or young person displaying a fascination with fire
Unexplained fires in or around the home
Signs of a fire, such as burn marks in clothes or on soft furnishings or evidence of fires outside of your property:

Change to Fire Safety Intervention Scheme

The service has a dedicated team of advisors that works with people who either have a history of deliberately setting fires, or are starting to show a fascination with fire. If you have any concerns you can contact one of our team in confidence by emailing firesetters@notts-fire.gov.uk. You can make a referral using the form below.

Young persons details

Child's/Young Person's Full Name *

Primary address for young person *

Gender

Date of birth *

Referrers information

Referrer name *

Relationship to young person

Name of organisation if not parent / career

Contact phone number

Contact email address

Further information

Referral Date

School Attended

Reason for Referral / Additional Information or Concerns

Detail / Concerns

Data protection

Consent for storing submitted data *

I consent to Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service collecting my personal data so that we can handle this referral.