Crap Towns / Sandown / Deliberate fires

How many fires get started on purpose in Sandown?

There were 13.7 deliberate fires per 10,000 people a year in Sandown from April 2023 to March 2026, 2.4 times the typical town's 5.7. The most common were other outdoor fires, at 8.7. In 2025/26 it was 12.9, up from 7.5 in 2023/24.

**Over time**
Period	Here	Typical town
2023/24	7.5	5.2
2024/25	20.8	5.4
2025/26	12.9	6.4

**What was set alight**
Fire	Here	Typical town
Other outdoor fires	8.7	1.5
Grass, woods and crops set on fire	3.4	1.7
Bins and rubbish set on fire	1.7	1.9

**Nearby towns**
Town	Distance	Fires per 10,000 people a year
Sandown	–	13.7
Shanklin	2.4 km	11.3
Gosport	16.7 km	10.4
South Hayling	21.0 km	8.9
Ryde	8.1 km	6.0
Portsmouth	20.5 km	6.0
Ventnor	6.7 km	5.4
Newport	10.6 km	4.9
Lee-on-the-Solent	19.3 km	3.8
Cowes	14.9 km	3.7
East Cowes	13.6 km	3.6
The typical town	–	5.7