All fired up in fight against car arsonists
THE sight of torched cars dumped on the roadside is a common one in Northamptonshire, and despite successful council initiatives to clear the streets of abandoned cars it is still costing the fire service almost £1,000-a-day to extinguish the flames.
Every day an average of 2.4 cars are set on fire deliberately in the county, costing the taxpayer 413 each time a fire crew is called out to deal with it.
Although the total number of car arsons has decreased over the past five years the cost per incident to Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service has risen by more than 35 per cent – far above inflation and Northamptonshire County Council's staffing cost rise of seven per cent.
Sub-officer Mick Rodden of the county Arson Task Force, a joint venture between the police and fire service, said a rise in wages and the cost of sophisticated equipment had caused this increase.
Another problem was that when a fire appliance was sent to a car arson it meant it was unavailable for genuine accidents.
"We haven't got a fire engine on every street corner," he said. "In Northampton we could have three engines sent out to deal with car fires and if something else should happen an engine would have to come from Earls Barton. There will be a delay getting the crew to the station as they are retained and have to be bleeped, and then there is a delay with them travelling to Northampton.
"Everyone expects a fire engine to be there within minutes but they don't take into account what is happening elsewhere.
"It is the same with false alarms. Two years ago we answered a series of false alarms which stripped Northampton of its fire cover. Then there was a road accident and we had to have a temporary crew travel in along country roads, which delayed them by 10 or 11 minutes. We can't say that this caused the person to die but it contributed to us not getting out there as quickly."
Sub officer Rodden said car fires were continuously causing them resource problems and potentially putting people in danger.
His views are supported by his police counterpart Pc Mike Orwin who said it was time a dedicated vehicle team was set up to specifically deal with and investigate arsons.
"It is something we are looking to address as it is a real problem. At the moment the police do not always attend a car fire and when they do it is only a Pc."
The reasons why people set cars alight vary but many are stolen vehicles burnt to hide evidence, cars broken into and set alight for mindless fun, or fraudulent insurance claims once a vehicle becomes worthless. Sometimes they can be random attacks such as a wife taking revenge on her cheating husband said Pc Orwin.
But efforts by the Arson Task Force and county council have not gone to waste and special project End of Life Vehicle Impound Scheme (ELVIS) has already started to see a decline in the number of cars set alight.
By clearing up dumped cars within two days rather than a few weeks, there are fewer empty vehicles on the streets to tempt people to set them on fire.
Sub officer Rodden explained: "ELVIS has reduced these types of arsons by a huge amount. Previously the council put a sticker on the screen telling the owner they had 14 days to remove it. But this was just an advert for people to start playing with it.
"ELVIS has helped to get rid of vehicles before they are set on fire. It reduced abandoned vehicle fires by 60 per cent last year.
"The cars getting attacked now are the ones of more value and involved in criminal activity. We need to have better security on the vehicles. We are not going to stop yobbos coming along and smashing vehicles and setting fire to them but we can try to prevent people from stealing cars then burning them to hide the evidence."
Work to increase policing numbers in crime hotspots has also had an impact.
A year ago Eastfield Park in Northampton was a hotbed of burnt out cars and gangs of youths. During Easter 2006 there was a spate of arson attacks on cars and residents described the area as like "living in Beirut".
But police intervention has seen a vast improvement in the area, as Pauline Harris chair of the residents association explained.
"We have had terrific police support and they have really got it under control. They are breaking up the gangs and we haven't had any problems with car fires. We are trying to move Eastfield on," she said.
County councillor Liz Tavener (Con, New Duston), who is responsible for public protection, said ELVIS had been extremely successful but the fire service still had a duty to attend car fires, no matter what the cost.
She added: "We have to respond to where the need is. If part of the need is putting out deliberate ignition fires then that has to be done for safety reasons.
"Things are so much better but we still have to put these fires out if they happen.
"If the Government gave us the right funding to do it, we could reduce the number of car fires. But through the Arson Task Force we are making a significant difference."
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