Tamper-proof vapes to curb deliberate prison fires

The fire authority meeting heard work was being done by the prison service to tackle the issue

Prisons are introducing tamper-proof vapes to cut down on arson incidents, a fire authority meeting has heard.

Firefighters were called to dozens of blazes in West Yorkshire prisons in the past 12 months, with fire bosses claiming "inventive" prisoners were using vapes to start fires so they could move cells.

Bosses from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue told councillors work was being done by the prison service to tackle the issue.

Scott Donegan, area manager with responsibility for prevention and response, said: "It is often vapes that are used to set fires."

Mr Donegan said as well as rolling out tamper proof vapes, the prison service was also changing the type of kettles provided to prisoners as these were also being used to start fires.

He added: "Some people in prisons are an inventive bunch."

Prisoners prosecuted

The meeting of the West Yorkshire Fire Authority's Community Safety Committee is held quarterly by councillors from across West Yorkshire.

Friday's meeting was told there had been 119 deliberately set fires in secure accommodation in the past year, with around two thirds in West Yorkshire's prisons, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillors were told the prison service was looking to bring prosecutions against people starting fires in their cells, but Mr Donegan said that came with its own issues.

He said: "With the court backlog, a prisoner might get released and then appear in court for setting fire to his prison cell 18 months later."

Wakefield councillor Charlie Keith said: "After the riots last year there were a lot of people in prison who feel they shouldn't be there.

"I wonder if some of these figures are because people in for the riots are lighting fires as a kind of protest?"

But Mr Donegan said: "Sometimes people want to move prison or cell for their own security, they might have a drug debt. There might also be mental health issues."

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