Crap Towns / Croydon / Deliberate fires

How many fires get started on purpose in Croydon?

There were 1.6 deliberate fires per 10,000 people a year in Croydon from April 2023 to March 2026, 72% lower than the typical town's 5.7. The most common were grass, woods and crops set on fire, at 0.6. In 2025/26 it was 2.0, up from 1.4 in 2023/24.

**Over time**
Period	Here	Typical town
2023/24	1.4	5.2
2024/25	1.4	5.4
2025/26	2.0	6.4

**What was set alight**
Fire	Here	Typical town
Grass, woods and crops set on fire	0.6	1.7
Other outdoor fires	0.5	1.5
Bins and rubbish set on fire	0.5	1.9

**Nearby towns**
Town	Distance	Fires per 10,000 people a year
Warlingham	5.4 km	5.9
Ewell	10.9 km	3.2
Banstead	8.6 km	3.0
Bromley	9.8 km	2.2
Tadworth and Epsom Downs	11.0 km	2.0
Croydon	–	1.6
Sutton	6.3 km	1.4
Merton	9.8 km	1.3
Caterham	7.6 km	1.2
Lewisham	11.3 km	1.0
Lambeth	11.2 km	0.9
The typical town	–	5.7