Fire brigade counts cost of one month's arson

Incidents and costs of fires in Hartlepool have fallen markedly since the same month last year

Deliberate fires set during May cost to a borough's economy more than £330,000, Office for National Statistics' figures suggest.

However Cleveland Fire Brigade recorded a reduction in all incidents of fire in Hartlepool compared with the same month last year.

Brigade chiefs put the cost at £339,567 compared to £449,732 in 2023.

The ward with the most fires in May was Burn Valley with 15, all recorded as malicious.

The findings were presented at the latest meeting of the Safer Hartlepool Partnership.

Its members heard that of the 69 fires in May 2024, 66 were deliberate.

In May 2023 there were 115 blazes, of which 101 were deemed to be arson.

Arson prevention

Councillor Sue Little questioned if the reduction was affected by levels of rain experienced in recent months.

She noticed beach fires “have reduced massively” compared to previous periods.

Darren Lane, Cleveland Fire Brigade community liaison officer, said the weather had been taken into consideration, but crews have also completed “a lot of work on the prevention side”.

This included going into schools and targeting problem areas.

Councillor Karen Oliver, who chaired the meeting, praised the fire brigade for its preventative work in schools.