CORNWALL Fire and Rescue Service has attended more than 6,000 incidents since 2019, with a number of these being deliberate fires, a new investigation has revealed.

Figures obtained by Public Interest Lawyers show the service attended more than 1,500 deliberate fires since 2019.

There have been 19 deliberate fire injuries recorded by the Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service since 2019, with the highest annual total coming in 2022/23 standing at six.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service has attended 6,544 primary and secondary fires over the past five years, with around 25 per cent of these being deliberate fires.

Bodmin logged the most fires with 180, with Truro, St Austell and Newquay also seeing more than 170 incidents take place.

Primary fires are considered potentially more serious as they cause harm to people or damage property.

Secondary fires are generally small outdoor fires, not involving people or property and these include refuse, grassland and fires in derelict buildings or vehicles.

From 2019 to 2020, Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service attended 1,385 primary and secondary fires, which was the second-highest number of fires over the past five years.

A year later, this number decreased to 1,194, caused by restrictions and lockdowns during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past year, the service has experienced a drop in primary and secondary fires, totalling 1,160 in 2023/24.

Services attended 600,324 incidents in the year ending March 2024, a decrease of 3.6 per cent compared with the previous year was 622,659.

Of these incidents, there were 138,977 fires, which was a decrease of 22 per cent compared with the previous year of 178,867.

A spokesperson for Public Interest Lawyers said: “The impact of arson isn’t just financial; it can significantly affect a person’s emotional well-being and sense of security.”