Crap Towns / Bathgate / Deliberate fires

How many fires get started on purpose in Bathgate?

There were 55.2 deliberate fires per 10,000 people a year in Bathgate from April 2023 to March 2026, 2.5 times the typical Scottish town's 22.3. The most common were bins and rubbish set on fire, at 24.4. In 2025/26 it was 57.7, down from 62.0 in 2023/24.

**Over time**
Period	Here	Typical Scottish town
2023/24	62.0	22.6
2024/25	45.9	20.4
2025/26	57.7	19.0

**What was set alight**
Fire	Here	Typical Scottish town
Bins and rubbish set on fire	24.4	8.2
Grass, woods and crops set on fire	20.4	6.2
Other outdoor fires	10.3	5.0

**Nearby towns**
Town	Distance	Fires per 10,000 people a year
Whitburn	4.8 km	104
Shotts	13.3 km	79.3
Blackburn	2.5 km	66.2
Bathgate	–	55.2
Armadale	4.0 km	32.8
Livingston	6.6 km	31.7
Broxburn	10.8 km	29.4
Bo'ness	13.0 km	28.8
Linlithgow	9.2 km	9.1
East Calder	11.4 km	5.5
Polmont	11.6 km	3.7
The typical Scottish town	–	22.3