Focus on arson reporting as fire service introduces Firestoppers

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service has teamed up with Crimestoppers to launch a new service to encourage people to pass on information relating to arson and deliberate fire started across the county.

Firestoppers is new service for the county and is aimed at those who may have information about deliberate fires or individuals who may be responsible, allowing them to report them completely anonymously with no record traced back to them.

Anonymity is central to the Firestoppers service, so anyone who contacts it can report arson without any record being traced back to them.  Phone numbers aren’t seen, and IP addresses are scrambled. The initiative builds on the longstanding success of Crimestoppers.

In 2025, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service recorded over 1,000 incidents of deliberate fires, the service says that this is on top of the thousands of calls that are handled by the control room, leading to unnecessary pressure on the service and diverting resources to incidents that could have been avoided.

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service chief, Alex Woodman said: “Each year we attend hundreds of unnecessary calls, to acts of deliberate fires being started, that not only divert resources at a time when budgets are stretched, but place both the public and fire crews at risk of serious harm or even death.”

The initiative builds on the longstanding success of Crimestoppers. A charity that has helped protect society from crime and has protected the anonymity of all those who tell them what they know since they were established almost 40 years ago.

Anyone with information can call 0800 169 5558 or visit – www.firestoppersreport.co.uk

---

To read similar articles, check out our Frontline channel.