JUVENILE ARSON
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| Fires started by children under ten
years old. |
Arson attacks across East Sussex
are increasing. Many of the fires are started by young people, some
by children under ten years old.
Arson causes
millions of pounds in damage to property and kills people.
There is a growing trend of arson attacks across the county of East Sussex
and is the biggest single cause of major fires in the UK.
Last year arson in Kent cost 拢30 million pounds
with 70% of all reported fires in the county suspected arson.
On a mid-June weekend there were eight arson attacks in the Eastbourne
area.
 |
| Arson
is the biggest single cause of major fires in the UK |
An arson
attack in Bexhill, started by kids, turned out to be the biggest fire
in the area for a decade.
What is happening now in the South East region is just the tip of the
iceberg.
In 2000,
5300 property and vehicle fires were started by children under the age
of ten.
These fires led to 13 deaths and over 1000 injuries.
The
estimated cost of the fires was 拢40m. Juvenile firesetting has been
a problem for a number of years.
| "How
would they feel if it was their parents house and they were asleep
upstairs?" |
| Arson
victim Mike Wickham |
However,
it is only more recently that it has been recognised as an issue worth
tackling in its own right.
Fire brigade "disgusted"
Frank
Davis of the East Sussex Fire Brigade said: "They disgust me to be
honest, people's lives are at risk.
"Millions
of pounds every year are lost because of arson. People's lives at risk,
It is like putting a shotgun against someone's head."
| ARSON FACT FILE |
|
*
A group of juveniles set fire to a grade II listed building in Bexhill.
12 fire engines where called to the scene and the whole building
was reduced to rubble
*
Ashdown Forest was set on fire in the summer of 2002 and over 20
fire engines were called to the scene.
*
Arson attacks strike rural locations as well as inner-city areas.
Barns are constantly being set on fire by youngsters.
*
A cricket pavilion in Battle was set alight. (The pavilion contained
an electrical transformer so the fire fighters could get near the
fire).
|
"It
could have been extremely dangerous, we got to the point where we had
to evacuate everyone in the building and fight the fire from a distance.
"The
fire was so severe, we lost the building. Our conclusion was that this
was deliberately started by someone outside the building.
" I believe someone got round the back and started the fire there."
Primary
schools visited
Nearly half of all deliberately started fires are down
to teenage firesetters.
Brian Attree
is an ex-arsonist who was convicted of burning down his local library
at the age of 17.
"It
was the thrill of it, the uncertainty," says Brian.
 |
| Fire
Investigation Officers establish the cause of the blaze |
"Would
it go up? Sometimes I'd watch the fires from afar, laughing as the engines
arrived to deal with my handy work."
A team of
fire fighters from
East Sussex Fire Brigade visit primary
schools and give presentation about the hazards of fires.
A safety vehicle has a plasma screen inside it and dummies for fire fighters
to demonstrate with.
Young children
start playing with matches and cigarette lighters at home, then they start
setting fire to chocolate boxes and pieces of paper before moving onto
outdoor activities e.g. skips, cars and buildings.
Derelict buildings are constantly being targeted.
| "We
are up against an awful lot of arson at the moment, nearly 66% of
all the calls we attend are deliberate fires of some description." |
| Frank
Davis |
Shop burnt down
Brian Wickham
has run a fishing tackle shop in East Grinstead for 23 years. Eight weeks
ago it was set alight. Upstairs was gutted.
Mr Wickham
said: "After I'd been here an hour the fireman told me they'd tried
to start a fire behind the adjoining restaurant, put newspaper into the
basement but it failed to catch light.
"There are six people living in this building and it could have been horrendous."
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