Crap Towns / Swindon / Deliberate fires

How many fires get started on purpose in Swindon?

There were 3.3 deliberate fires per 10,000 people a year in Swindon from April 2023 to March 2026, 42% lower than the typical town's 5.7. The most common were grass, woods and crops set on fire, at 1.3. In 2025/26 it was 5.1, up from 2.1 in 2023/24.

**Over time**
Period	Here	Typical town
2023/24	2.1	5.2
2024/25	2.9	5.4
2025/26	5.1	6.4

**What was set alight**
Fire	Here	Typical town
Grass, woods and crops set on fire	1.3	1.7
Other outdoor fires	1.2	1.5
Bins and rubbish set on fire	0.8	1.9

**Nearby towns**
Town	Distance	Fires per 10,000 people a year
Faringdon	17.4 km	8.6
Wroughton	4.8 km	7.7
Shrivenham and Watchfield	11.4 km	6.1
Swindon	–	3.3
Marlborough	17.1 km	3.0
Royal Wootton Bassett	7.6 km	2.6
Cirencester	19.7 km	2.2
Broad Blunsdon	4.6 km	2.0
Stratton St Margaret	4.0 km	1.9
Calne	20.0 km	1.6
Highworth	9.1 km	1.6
The typical town	–	5.7