Arson twice as high in Conwy

Aug 28 2008 by andrew Davies, North Wales Weekly News

CONWY county had almost double the number of arsons than neighbouring Denbighshire last year.

The figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that for 2007/08, Conwy suffered 81 reported arson incidents compared to 44 in Denbighshire.

The previous year had seen 90 incidents reported in Conwy compared to the 63 in Denbighshire.

In July, the fire service issued a plea in July for members of the public to report firestarters following a series of incidents during the month.

Richard Fairhead, senior fire safety manager, said, “This type of anti-social behaviour will simply not be tolerated.

“This irresponsible behaviour ties up resources that could be saving lives elsewhere, and puts the lives of both the public and firefighters at risk.

“I am appealing to all members of the community to report the perpetrators of deliberate fires. Arson is a serious crime and in conjunction with North Wales Police we will pursue prosecutions.”

Kevin Smith, county safety manager for Conwy, added: “One clear positive from these figures is that more and more people in Conwy are reporting deliberate fires – the reporting of all incidents is improving and although this can show as an increase in activity it also is true that early reporting by the public means both the fire service and the police can effectively investigate and deal with the incident.

“Also, this year to date, as a result of joint working and good cooperation amongst the Conwy Community Safety Partnership, the incidences of deliberate ignition fires are decreasing and detection is improving overall.

“However, it is interesting to note that instances of deliberate firestarting rise dramatically during the school holidays. Therefore we would appeal to the residents of Conwy to know their children’s whereabouts at all times and explain to them the potentially life-threatening consequences of deliberate firestarting,” added Kevin Smith.

AM for Clwyd West Darren Millar responded to the figures: “I’m very disappointed to see that arson is still such a regular occurrence in the constituency.

“Arson causes many thousands of pounds worth of damage each year, ties up the time of firefighters and other emergency services and can cost lives.

“There must now be a concerted effort by the authorities in North Wales to ensure that arsonists are prosecuted and more should be done to prevent arson, particularly amongst young people, through education and by preventing access to matches and other materials.”