Rise in use of vape devices to start prison fires

Incidents were related to drug debts or inmates wanting to move cells, firefighters said

Inmates have been using vaping devices to start fires in West Yorkshire prisons, a fire authority meeting has heard.

There has been a 23% increase in the number of non-residential fires deliberately started in Leeds since April, with fires in prisons making up the bulk of the rise.

The incidents were often related to drug debts or inmates trying to move to different cells, the West Yorkshire Fire Authority meeting was told.

Scott Donegan, area manager for prevention and response at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the organisation had "linked in with Manchester prison service to look at how they deal with the issue in their prisons".

Firefighters had been called to 43 more deliberate non-residential fires this year than in 2023, Mr Donegan told the meeting on Friday.

"A lot of the incidents in youth offender institutes are linked to vapes," he said.

He said people in prison could be "very inventive".

"If you take away what they are using now they will find something else," Mr Donegan said.

'Balance' needed

The fire authority board is made up of councillors from Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.

Firefighters told the meeting that despite the rise in incidents at prisons, they were concerned about the impact of removing vaping devices from inmates, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"There is a balance, you have to think about how taking these items off them might effect the management of the prison population," Mr Donegan said.

Despite the rise in deliberate non-domestic fires in Leeds, there had been a decrease in such incidents elsewhere, the meeting heard.

Bradford saw a 21% drop while Kirklees saw a 41% reduction.

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