Crap Towns / Grays / Deliberate fires

How many fires get started on purpose in Grays?

There were 11.0 deliberate fires per 10,000 people a year in Grays from April 2023 to March 2026, 1.9 times the typical town's 5.7. The most common were other outdoor fires, at 4.6. In 2025/26 it was 18.7, up from 4.8 in 2023/24.

**Over time**
Period	Here	Typical town
2023/24	4.8	5.2
2024/25	9.5	5.4
2025/26	18.7	6.4

**What was set alight**
Fire	Here	Typical town
Other outdoor fires	4.6	1.5
Grass, woods and crops set on fire	3.7	1.7
Bins and rubbish set on fire	2.7	1.9

**Nearby towns**
Town	Distance	Fires per 10,000 people a year
Tilbury	3.1 km	34.0
Chadwell St Mary	2.7 km	23.9
Northfleet	5.1 km	11.7
Purfleet-on-Thames	5.4 km	11.6
Aveley	6.0 km	11.5
Grays	–	11.0
East Tilbury	5.9 km	9.7
Swanscombe	4.5 km	9.2
Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock	3.4 km	7.8
South Ockendon	4.2 km	6.1
Stone	6.3 km	2.4
The typical town	–	5.7