Crap Towns / Blackburn / Deliberate fires

How many fires get started on purpose in Blackburn?

There were 66.2 deliberate fires per 10,000 people a year in Blackburn from April 2023 to March 2026, 3.0 times the typical Scottish town's 22.3. The most common were bins and rubbish set on fire, at 30.7. In 2025/26 it was 105, up from 51.9 in 2023/24.

**Over time**
Period	Here	Typical Scottish town
2023/24	51.9	22.6
2024/25	41.9	20.4
2025/26	105	19.0

**What was set alight**
Fire	Here	Typical Scottish town
Bins and rubbish set on fire	30.7	8.2
Grass, woods and crops set on fire	19.8	6.2
Other outdoor fires	15.8	5.0

**Nearby towns**
Town	Distance	Fires per 10,000 people a year
Whitburn	4.3 km	104
Shotts	12.7 km	79.3
Blackburn	–	66.2
Bathgate	2.5 km	55.2
Armadale	5.4 km	32.8
Livingston	6.1 km	31.7
Broxburn	11.3 km	29.4
Bo'ness	15.3 km	28.8
Linlithgow	11.4 km	9.1
East Calder	10.8 km	5.5
Polmont	14.1 km	3.7
The typical Scottish town	–	22.3