Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 21/10/2

Cornwall County Council is calling on the Government to continue to provide funding for the highly successful Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Arson Task Force, which has helped to dramatically reduce the number of arson attacks in the region over the past four years.

The Arson Task Force is a joint partnership between Cornwall County Fire Brigade, Devon Fire and Rescue Service, Devon and Cornwall Constabulary and the Isles of Scilly Fire Brigade. It was established in 2001 after successfully achieving a grant of £63,000 from the Arson Control Forum *. Arson Task Forces were also funded in Dorset, Lancashire, Leicestershire, London, Bedfordshire, Wales, North Yorks and Shropshire.

Arson has been a growing problem across the UK since the late 1980's with deliberate fire setting rising by about 10% annually. The annual cost to the UK is estimated to be £2.2 billion, with two people dying each week as a result of an arson fire. There are also costs to the community, including costs to the health service, insurance costs after payouts and children’s education when schools are targeted.

The Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Arson Task Force, which is made up of a Police Officer and a Fire Officer, has been working hard with the Police, Fire Brigade and Local Authorities to reverse this trend and has seen a noticeable decrease in the last year.

Chief Fire Officer Matt Littmoden explains: “Cornwall County Fire Brigade works in partnership with the Arson Task Force to stamp out arson attacks across the county and our statistics show this is working. We have seen a definite decline in these types of incident”
“The risk to life and cost of arson in terms of deployment of emergency services and damage is so significant it is vital we target this problem effectively”

Ken Yeo, the County Council’s Executive Member for Public Protection, is delighted with the results of the Task Force, but has expressed his concerns about its future funding. “At the end of this financial year funding from the Arson Control Forum for the Arson Task Force in Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly will finish” “ he said. “This has been a highly successful initiative and Partnership which has added to safer communities, a high priority for our residents. “

“However without additional funding to this, a partnership that demonstrates very clearly the advantages of invest to save shown by the reduction in the number of arson indications could be lost. The early indications are that available monies will be required to maintain core services. We are, therefore, looking to the Government to directly support and fund this initiative to enable the Partnership to carry on the good work”.

The work of the Arson Task Force has included:
 working with local businesses highlighting the need to be extra vigilant when storing their waste, securing it in locked bins and not putting it the night before it is to be picked up, unless it is secure.
 Improving vehicle arson investigation with improved inter agency communication. This means more evidence from stolen vehicles will be obtained and abandoned vehicles owners be traced.
 Working in partnership with the Police and Fire Brigade to improve the likelihood of detection with training and teamwork. The Arson Task Force is actively involved in the training of CID officers to identify evidence available at scenes. Scene Preservation and Fire Investigation is improving giving Crime Scene Investigators a better chance of identifying offenders.
Cornwall County Fire Brigade also carries out a range of other community safety initiatives that aim to prevent arson attacks. These initiatives are designed for children and include Fire Awareness Child Education (FACE), the Phoenix Project and Prison Me! No Way Day!

These projects aim to warn children of the dangers of arson and so prevent them becoming potential arsonists.