Firestoppers service will allow people to anonymously report suspected arsonists in West Yorkshire

The service will be similar to Crimestoppers – which allows people to report crimes without needing to provide their names or addresses.

It is one of several measures being rolled out by West Yorkshire Fire service to try to deal with people who start nuisance fires throughout the region.

And at a meeting of West Yorkshire Fire Authority, members discussed the issue of anti-social behaviour after hearing that there had been a spike in secondary arsons – fires involving waste or vegetation, over the warm summer months.

Much of this was down to low level crime or anti-social behaviour.

When asked what was being done to tackle the problem, Scott Donegan, West Yorkshire Fire Service’s area manager for prevention and response, said: “We’re rolling out FireStoppers soon – it will be the equivalent to Crimestoppers.

“It will let people who know others who habitually start fires get in touch with us. It might be people in their peer groups, or if they are concerned about the actions of their friends. They can pass on this information anonymously and we will act on it.”

Introduced in the UK in the 1980s, Crimestoppers is a charity that allows people who may normally be hesitant about contacting police to come forward with information about crimes.

A similar Firestoppers service has been rolled out in other Fire Services in recent years.

Mr Donegan said other work had included firefighters engaging with young people in area that have been hot spots for anti-social behaviour and a lot of work had been done in the Holme Wood area of Bradford..

“We did have a problem in Holme Wood that resulted in equipment being stolen from one of our fire appliances.

“We visited the area and spoke to young people about what that equipment is for. This allowed them to understand the consequences of that theft.

“We work with neighbourhoods in Holme Wood to reduce anti-social behaviour. If we can build relationships and trust with the young people there it will help with prevention.”

Figures given to members showed that secondary arson had seen a huge spike in Leeds in since April.

Between April and mid September 2021 there had been 693 such arsons in the district. In the same time period this year there had been 1,317.

When asked about this, Toby May, Leeds District Commander, said: “We are seeing heightened levels of anti-social behaviour in Leeds, even in areas where you wouldn’t expect anti-social behaviour.”

However, he said such incidents had been on a “downward trend” in recent weeks due to partnership work.

The meeting heard how fire services worked with young people who are deemed high risk “fire setters.”

In the past year the number of young people referred to fire services over such concerns rose from 89 to 103.

Mr Donegan said the rise was due to the relaxing of Covid restrictions making it easier to engage with young people.

He said none of those young people who the fire service had worked with after these referrals had continued their risky behaviour.