Worrying rise in arson attacks in Leeds, report suggests

A report published this week showed that the number of incidents sits more than 65 per cent over a three-year average target.

In the Leeds district alone, there has been 1,525 call outs for arson so far this year, compared to 841 during the same period last year.

The figures formed part of a performance-monitoring report discussed by the community safety committee of West Yorkshire Fire Authority on Friday.

The report looks at West Yorkshire as a whole, and also breaks the figures down into Leeds, Wakefield, Calderdale, Kirklees and Bradford districts.

Overall, there has been 4,290 arson call outs across the five areas, much of which is put down to low-level crime or anti-social behaviour.

However, the vast majority of cases are classed as “secondary arson”, meaning they luckily did not lead to serious consequences.

This includes small rubbish fires and grassland fires – many of which stemmed from the prolonged period of dry weather during the record-breaking summer temperatures.

The report reads: “The summer heatwave has a resulted in a large increase in our overall demand and this is reflected across most of fire and rescue services across the country.

"Secondary fires which involve grass and refuse have been responsible for the majority of these.

"The long, dry summer has provided conditions which support rapid fire development and fuel which can be ignited easily. This peaked in mid July when a red heat warning was released by the Met Office.

“Compared to the 2021/22, there has been a significant increase in secondary fires.

"As we see climate change-related extreme weather events occurring more frequently it is likely we will continue to see a rise in this performance indicator.”

With a sharp increase in low-level arson, in recent months a number of arson attacks have blighted parts of Leeds.

This included a call out to an old people’s housing complex in Harehills when a sofa was torched at the doorway, which then spread to a porch. Luckily nobody was injured.

Earlier this month multiple fire crews also rushed to a blaze at the vacant Leonardo Building on Cookridge Street and led to a huge operation to extinguish the flames.

Meanwhile, a new ‘Firestoppers’ service – similar to Crimestoppers – is due to be rolled out across West Yorkshire.

Allowing people to report crimes without needing to provide their names or addresses, it is one of several measures to tackle people who start nuisance fires.

Scott Donegan, area manager for prevention and response, said: “It will let people who know others who habitually start fires get in touch with us. It might be people in their peer groups, or if they are concerned about the actions of their friends. They can pass on this information anonymously and we will act on it.”

Mr Donegan said other work had included firefighters engaging with young people in area that have been hot spots for anti-social behaviour.