The London Borough of Tower Hamlets lies just east of the City of London. Bordered on the south by the River Thames its 8 square miles is home to 250,000 people. It houses Londons "Mini Manhattan" Canary Wharf which is the premier Hi-Rise district in London and is without a doubt the second Financial district in the UK outside of the City. Many of the riverside Warehouses that 20 years ago were burning on a weekly basis are now Multi Million Pound Penthouses.
In stark contrast to this, the Centre and North of the Borough is one of the poorest areas in Europe. Tower Hamlets is a very diverse Community, there are 76 languages spoken within the Borough. The 6 Fire Stations that cover the Borough between them answer in the region of 16000 calls per year.
The Problem
In 2001 there were over 4500 Arson related Fires within the Borough, this was among the highest figures recorded for the UK. As with any run down inner city area a number of these incidents were serious Structural Arson Fires, however the biggest problem was deliberately set rubbish and outdoor fires and deliberate ignition of Abandoned Motor Vehicles.
As one of the 6 Station Commanders for the area I was given the task of reducing these figures by the Borough Commander (the LFB is now organised into a Borough based structure headed by a DO). I studied similar Arson problems around the world and realised the problem we were dealing with was nothing to do with serial Arson caused by psychiatric problems or for financial gain but simply Juvenile Fire raising caused by youths with nothing better to do with their time.
I visited many of the problem areas including one small area that had recorded 382 deliberate fires within the previous 12 Months. The overwhelming contributor to this was the high number of abandoned vehicles and the amount of rubbish dumped on the streets.
In the past few years we have all become increasingly aware of the upsurge in the number of abandoned vehicle fires we attend. I know the problem is stretching local Authority resources to the limit from the Inner City Housing Estates of the Capital to Small Rural Communities. This as most of us aware has been caused by European recycling regulations added to a general drop in the value of Scrap Metal. What may previously have paid an individual £25 to £50 to scrap a car is now a costly procedure where abandoning the vehicle is the preferred option.
As for the rubbish Fires, much of Tower Hamlets is made up of post war Local Authority Housing Estates comprising of medium to high rise blocks of Maisonettes and flats with underground garages and estate roads, aerial walkways connecting blocks and so on. Most of these Estates are run down and have varying degrees of sociol economic problems such as drugs, gang warfare poverty etc. There is very little pride within these neighbourhoods so many people dump rubbish and unwanted furniture in communal areas and on the roads of the estate.
Local Authority Rubbish collection was also a problem. There were weekly collections based on when the estates were constructed and housed smaller families who generated less waste. Many of the families who live here have 7 or 8 people living within a 3 Bedroom Flat, inevitably as in the photograph above rubbish bins and skips become overfilled with an excess of flammable material just waiting for a naked flame to be applied.
It became apparent therefore that the problem was not a Fire Brigade problem alone. If we were to break the cycle of arson which was getting progressively worse we would have to take a multi agency approach to deal with the issue.
The Home Office figures relating to the cost to society of various types of fires averaged the cost of a rubbish fire at £1200 and a car fire at £5000. Without delving into the cost of the more serious structural arson fires we were dealing with, the cost to the local community for the fires within that area was over £7m.
I had previously mentioned the arson problem at one of the regular multi agency meetings held within the Borough. They are attended by representatives from Housing, Highways, Police, Fire, Social services, youth workers and other interested local parties. It was deemed to be a low priority problem next to street crime, drugs, poverty and urban re-generation. Indeed the Police didnt even see arson as a problem. The majority of the arson fires we had reported as a "fire related crime" were dismissed by the Police unless it involved substantial Financial or commercial loss, therefore our 4500 deliberate fires were reduced to a minimal by the Police and only related to structural arson.
It became apparent that I was going to have to employ hard hitting shock tactics to move the arson problem higher up the agenda. I set about producing an arson report that detailed the costs of arson across the Borough drew all the links to juvenile crime and gang culture. I studied the history of Arson in London and New York in the 60s and 70s and realised the pattern of juvenile fire setting, gang violence and social deprivation was taking us on a slippery slope to the inner city ghettos that had been consigned by many to the past.
Armed with the report that concluded with the passage "Do we really want to see a time when the summer skies are filled with palls of black smoke and the sound of Fire Engine sirens fills the air", is Tower Hamlets going to be the Bronx of the 21st Century. I arranged another meeting with all the stakeholders to deal with the problem.
The Solution
I was keen to follow the Integrated risk Management Approach to find a solution to this problem, working under the auspices of the "Making Communities Safer" Working group relevant stakeholders were drawn from the Fire Brigade, Police, Cleansing, Parks, Housing and Youth/Social Services. We looked at the problems, evaluated the likelihood and severity of risk both to the Person and wider community as a whole. Within a short time we agreed that a number of critical problems were exasperating the problem within the Borough.
- Abandoned cars although frequently reported were taking up to 2 weeks to be removed from the street. The law states they can be removed within 24 Hours if they are a risk to the safety of the community.
- Fly tipping (the unlawful dumping of waste by people posing as rubbish clearance agents to avoid paying for the use of official dumps) was unregulated and almost epidemic.
- Insufficient Refuse collections by the Street Cleansing department based on outdated estimates of domestic waste production.
- No recognition of the seriousness and cost of arson by the Police, leaving miscreants unpunished for deliberate fire raising.
- A Lack of understanding of the risks to life from fire within the local community.
- A lack of facilities for young people outside of school hours.
It became apparent that the solution to the arson problem was quite simple, deal with the above and we would see a dramatic reduction in deliberate fires. The problem however was money. Those within the Local Authority were reluctant to authorise the amount of money needed for this programme. The Police and Fire Brigade were willing to use some of their community budgets to fund juvenile fire setter and community awareness projects, but the major expense was a complete overhaul of the Rubbish and car collection systems that would inevitably fall to the Local Authority.
As previously mentioned the annual cost of Arson within the Borough was over £7Million, once we convinced the various departments within the local Authority to analyse their annual repair bill and highlight the cost of repairs caused by deliberate fires, it became apparent to them that an initial capital investment in modernising the rubbish collection systems would save considerably in other areas.
By April of 2002 most of the schemes were in place. They consisted of the following:-
- A Juvenile Fire setters scheme aimed at those youngsters who are caught setting deliberate fires or who are at risk of becoming involved in Arson.
- A dedicated 24 hour telephone and e-mail reporting line for the removal of abandoned vehicles, and an outside contractor who is paid to remove the vehicles within 24 Hours.
- Greater policing of Fly tippers.
- More frequent rubbish collections from Council Estates.
- Rubbish bin and skip rooms secured after collection discouraging all but the most determined Arsonist.
- A free collection service for unwanted items of furniture for residents of the Borough.
- Improved reporting procedures between Police and Fire Brigade, with quarterly figure comparisons and sharing of information between all Local Stakeholders.
- Phased replacement of traditional rubbish bins in favour of underground fireproof containers that are lifted out by a dedicated grab truck and replaced with an empty container.
Although it is early days, we have seen a dramatic decrease in the number of Nuisance arson calls we are attending. Figures from April 2002 to December 2002 have shown a 40 percent reduction on the same period in 2001. Due to the Juvenile Fire setters scheme, the number of attacks on Fire Crews has also reduced on certain trouble Estates.
Many of you may feel the same frustrations when dealing with arson. I know of many Officers on both sides of the Atlantic who say they have difficulty in getting this problem dealt with seriously. Nuisance arson is a problem in many of our inner cities. Proper research of the factors involved and the costs to society presented from Local Government statistics will arm you with a good case to reduce this unnecessary toll on your Brigades resources.
Article written by Steve Dudeney, Assistant Divisional Officer, London Fire Brigade