LARRY STOKES
Underwriting Manager
ZURICH MUNICIPAL
CHAIRMAN OF SCHOOLS WORKING PARTY- Arson Prevention Bureau
IFEROYAL BERKSHIRE GROUP
11 November 2003
National Cost
Issues
Arsonist Profile
School Fires
The incidence of arson in industrial, agricultural, commercial and public premises
1998 1999 2000 2001
Totalnumber offires
41,800 43,700 41,800 43,600
Number ofmaliciousfires
17,100 17,900 18,000 19,700
% ofmaliciousfires
42 41 43 45
Housing £ 351m Commercial £ 758m
£1,108m Business Interruption £ 269m
£1,477m
Cost of Fires
ABI - 2002
50% of Commercial
£500m
Arson - 2002
INVOLVING ……...
Death, and injury to occupants and Fire Fighters
Business Interruption
Closure of the Company
Loss of jobs
Loss of facilities or amenities for the community
Pollution
Loss of industrial heritage
ARSON FIRE - WHO ?
MALE
….. but not always
AGED 10 - 16
WORKFORCE
VISITORS
ARSON FIRE - WHEN
ALL FIRES - 49% AT NIGHT
ARSON - 68% AT NIGHT
LARGE ARSON - 84% AT NIGHT
The Problem
The Issues
The Solutions
SCHOOL FIRES
THE PROBLEM
THE PROBLEM
THE PROBLEM
COSTS OF LOSS/ DAMAGE IN SCHOOLS
National Costs - Fire Losses
1993 - 2002
0
20,000,000
40,000,000
60,000,000
80,000,000
100,000,000
120,000,000
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Government set to spend £5bn on renewing school infrastructure over next 5 years
So What ?
90,000 schoolchildren have education disrupted
80,000 families affected
320,000 people involved
PLUS
Resources diverted
Education disrupted
A Different Perspective …..
FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION FIRES > £250,00012 MONTHS MAY 2001 - APRIL 2002
Where the Fire £250,000-Plus Fires Started
No. of Fires
Estimated Loss £
Education Establishments 22 32,784,000Shops 9 5,231,000Food and drink industry 3 3,475,000Clubs, pubs and restaurants 11 4,338,000Multiple occupancy 1 1,030,000Warehouses, wholesalers 10 24,625,000
Total all occupancies 123,904,807
Schools - 26%
School Fires by Means of Discovery
3 2 3
8
1114
113
3250
173
50
Occupant
Neighbour
Passer By
Caretaker
Police
Security Patrol
Fire / Intruder Alarm
Contractor
Automatic Fire Detection
Unknown
Others
School Fires By Time of Day
22
181
98
47
113
0 50 100 150 200
Unknown
Midnight - 6am
6:01am - 3:59pm
4pm - 10:59pm
11pm - Midnight
Tim
e B
and
No. of Fires
Causes Of Fires In Schools
36
7
20
14
43
91
197
44
31
2
1
1
ArsonArson Under 14'sArson - OtherArson - SuspectFire - ChemicalsMalicious FireFire - ElectricalFire - SmokingFire - HeatingFire - AccidentalFire - ChildrenFire ContractorFire - Unknown
SCHOOL FIRES 01.01.92 - 01.03.2003
Loss Experience
95%
82%
60%
46%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
VANDALISM
THEFTS
MINOR FIRES
MAJOR FIRES
In
cid
en
t T
yp
e
No. of Schools
THE ISSUES
Target Hardening
Intervention
THE SOLUTIONS
Target Hardening
THE SOLUTIONS
Use construction materials of limited combustibility
Secure bin stores
Retro-fit void barriers on older schools
Effective perimeter security
Automatic Fire alarms in all schools
Fire Sprinklers in new/refurbished schools
YOUR SCHOOL?
Site closed for weeks
Community disrupted
Children taught in portakabins for 3 years
Case Study 2
St Mary’s Church of England Primary School
Lunchtime fire April 2002
Pupil enters stockroom - starts fire
Thought to be false alarm, but …..
Water spotted from under the door
Water cleaned up, school operates normally for rest of day
WHAT CAN BE DONE ?
Design of new schools to incorporate lessons learnt
Upgrade refurbished schools
Target ‘the critical few’ of each LEA
AND
Use curriculum based resource to deflect potential fire
setters
SCHOOL FIRES
Who sets them?
More than 90% set by those who attend, or who have attended, the
school
Why do they set them?
To resolve angry feelings about the school
Often specifically directed to one or more teachers’ areas
Can we prevent school fires? Yes
Awareness of the fire setter enables preventative intervention
How do we identify them?
There are fire setters in every school
Fire safety (arson) education
Current space on the curriculum limited to fire safety
Nothing specific on arson
Main package is "learn not to burn"
Opportunity missed?
ARSON IN SCHOOLS
To raise awareness of problem and consequences
To educate pupils, teachers, parents and neighbours and
communities.
To be integrated within the school curriculum
To promote “good citizenship” both within
and outside the school environment - All with the overriding aim of reducing arson and increasing risk
assessment skills. (Changing Behaviour)
OBJECTIVES OF PROGRAMME
THE PROGRAMME
Key partner involvement Schools
Theatre in Education
Workshops
Resource Pack
Community Interaction
Benchmarking / monitoring / evaluation
Target the increased resource to improve the vulnerability of schools to large disruptive fires
Energise/facilitate education programmes aimed at explaining the consequences of malicious fire raising
All agencies to work together to reduce the number and cost of fires in schools
THE OPPORTUNITY