Bid to deal with anger of the school arsonists

TEACHERS, firefighters and police are working together to tackle the increasing problem of arson in schools and educating children about the danger of setting fires.

Arson costs the country £2 billion a year, and schools are the most common target, often torched by disgruntled pupils or former pupils.

In the last three years, seven Wiltshire schools have been torched, with damage ranging from £100 to thousands of pounds.

Assistant Divisional Officer Mark Gaskarth, of Swindon's Fire Safety Unit, said: "Around 80 per cent of small fires in Wiltshire are started deliberately, and about 40 per cent of the larger ones, so this is a substantial problem.

"The fire brigade would always prefer to prevent fires rather than put them out, and we do a lot of work on fire safety at home and school.

"It has become apparent that deliberate fire setting, especially in schools, is becoming a real problem, so we decided to get all the affected parties together and see what we could do to tackle the problem."

Among speakers at a recent course attended by firefighters, police and teachers were the head of the arson task force from Cleveland, an educational psychologist speaking about how to stop children who do set fires, and fire officers from around the country.

Stuart Clark, a head teacher from Dorset, whose school was one third destroyed by an arson attack in June 2000, talked about the impact on pupils and staff.

The fire destroyed the school hall, science block and performing arts centre and, three years on, the £3.5 million replacement building has only just been given planning permission.

The fire was started by a 21-year-old former pupil, who was given a three-year prison sentence.

Mr Clark said: "The morning after the fire we were in shock. It was the middle of GCSEs and A-levels, one third of the school buildings were destroyed. All the exam coursework was gone, and we didn't know where to start.

"We have spent about £1.5 million on temporary costs, and the new building will cost £3.5 million, all because of one ex-pupil with a box of matches. This is why working to prevent fires is so important."

Although Wiltshire has not seen such a catastrophic fire in its schools, several schools have suffered smaller fires which are believed to be deliberate.

In 2002, a cleaner at Corsham Comprehensive School had to be hospitalised after an arson attack on the school toilets, and Tregoze Primary School in Swindon had to buy a new PE shed after the old one was torched by children.

Teacher Grant Sinclair, from Pinehurst Junior School said: "We had a fire here a couple of years ago where several classrooms were destroyed, which is why I went along to the Fire Safety Day.

"It was an extremely useful course for teachers, because it gave a lot of practical help to prevent arsons, as well as giving us all a wake-up call as to how much of a problem this really is."

Wootton Bassett School resources manager Eric Shenton said: "I thought the course was excellent. I would be even more interested if the fire service ran one especially for school teachers and caretakers, and they said they are looking into that, but it gave us all a valuable lesson about the way the wind was blowing.

"Like all schools, we do have problems with children smoking in toilets, and this course provided some valuable tips on encouraging fire safety, and making pupils realise the damage a single cigarette can cause."

Mr Gaskarth said: "I think on the whole it was a very good day, and we got the message across to a lot of people about how much of a problem arson is, what measures schools can take to protect themselves, and the vital importance of a multi-agency approach in looking to cut the number of blazes."

Educational psychologist Andrew Muckley was working with young offenders in Cleveland when he started a study to see how common fire setting is among teenagers.

He found that among those he talked to, one third had set fires.

Shocked by the findings, he set up a course to tackle the problems and after a six week, hands-on course in fire safety and how to manage fires, he found that 90 per cent of them did not set fires again.

He said: "This was a hugely neglected area of dealing with young offenders. There had been nothing done to address their behaviour, and we found that once we did address it, there was a startlingly high success rate.

"There are three main types of fire setter, the fire player is usually a young child, under five years old, playing with matches out of curiosity.

"These types tend to accidentally set fires very close to home, often in their bedrooms and, very sadly, often die in the fires they create.

"Most children stop playing with matches when they grow up and learn about the dangers, but some graduate to curiosity fire setters, who tend to set bigger fires further away from their homes as fire becomes an important part of their lives.

"The most dangerous fire setter is the angry fire setter, who is an older child, usually a teenager, who often starts as a fire player as a young child. Once they discover that setting a fire can burn away their angry feelings, they start to set even larger fires whenever they are angry."

Mr Muckley added: "These are the types that if they are disciplined or excluded from school, will return and set fire to it.

"With these types harsh discipline can be counter-productive, like the case of the arsonist in North Yorkshire who received a ten-year prison sentence for arson. When he was released he started setting fires again because he was still angry.

"But if their behaviour is addressed, especially while they are young, it can be changed."

Last year, Wiltshire had 18 cases of arson, a figure that rose from 17 in 2001/2002 and 14 the year before.

However fire officers believe the true figure may be much higher.

Fire investigator Paul Saltmarsh said: "When investigating a fire, obviously a lot of the forensic evidence has been destroyed, so we usually have to say it is probable a fire was started deliberately, rather than being able to say for certain , which is what the police need before they can classify a fire as arson."

Reducing the risk of arson

Advice to schools

Fence the site, light it well and, if possible, have security patrols.

Solid window and door locks should be used, with an effective alarm system.

If possible foster relations with neighbouring houses who will look out for out-of-hours activity.

Bins should be placed at least eight metres away from buildings and secured with a padlock and chain to prevent them being pushed up against a building and ignited.

Storage buildings should be placed at least eight metres away from buildings to stop fire spreading.

Classroom waste bins should be emptied at the end of each day.

Skirts should be fitted to the base of mobile classrooms to prevent flammable materials being pushed underneath and then lit.

Waste bins should not be fitted to walls, or under combustible roofs, but should be secured to the ground and away from buildings.

During alterations or maintenance try and add extra fire-break walls or door to separate buildings into compartments.

Sprinkler systems have an excellent proven track record of controlling fires in commercial buildings. Although expensive to install they are cheap to maintain and can be a combined detection and extinguishing system.

Wiltshire Fire Brigade is happy to visit schools and talk to teachers/children/caretakers about avoiding and controlling fires in schools. For more information call the fire safety unit on (01793) 401 204.