Croydon has the highest incidence of serious fires and arson in London according to a Fire Brigade survey released yesterday. The borough had 638 cases of ‘serious fires’ and 204 cases of ‘deliberate fires’ in the last year, far higher than average figures for the rest of the city.

‘High risk areas’ within the borough include New Addington, Fieldway, and worst of all Thornton Heath, which suffered 27 arson attacks and 46 serious fires.

The figures come from London Fire Brigade’s new ‘fire map’ a record of all incidents of fire within the city reported between May 10th 2010, and April 11th 2011.

In response to the survey, Chairwoman of London Fire Authority’s Safety Committee, Councillor Susan Hall, said:

London’s firefighters have done an excellent job of making the capital safer in recent years but there are still some areas that are having too many fires.

On the issue of Croydon’s above average level of risk, a spokesperson for London Fire Brigade said:

We have stepped up our efforts to prevent cases of serious fire within Croydon by holding open days to help educate the community, and in the past year have reduced the number from 646 primary or serious fires to 638.

London Fire Brigade are also working with the city’s authorities to combat deliberate fires by using Arson reps within fire stations to liaise with the police, as well as CCTV and an increased Police presence on the streets.

Written by Dale Marshall.