§ Mr. Tom Coxasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each of the counties in England the number of calls made by county fire services to straw or stubble fires.
§ Mr. MellorFires involving straw or stubble are identifiable in the reports made by fire brigades only when they spread to property or involve casualties. In 1981 there were 87 such fires in England in which straw or stubble was reported as the material first ignited and which resulted from intentional burning. There were also 1,442 fires in which straw or stubble was reported as the material first ignited but which were ignited accidentally or maliciously and may have occurred in outdoor locations such as ricks or indoor ones such as barns or stables. The following table indicates how many of each of these types of fire was attended by each brigade. There were additionally 158 fires ignited as a result of the intentional burning of grassland, gorse, and so on, which may include some resulting from the intentional burning of stubble or straw.
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Fires in which straw or stubble was the material first ignited Brigade Resulting from intentional burning Resulting from accidental or malicious ignition Total—England 87 1,442 Avon 1 12 Bedfordshire 2 19 Berkshire 2 18 Buckinghamshire 2 22 Cambridgeshire 4 50 Cheshire 1 31 Cleveland 1 16 Cornwall — 21 Cumbria — 15 Derbyshire 1 27 Devon 1 30 Dorset 2 14 Durham 1 29 East Sussex — 19 Essex 4 62 Gloucestershire 6 23 Greater London — 12 Greater Manchester — 18 Hampshire 2 39 Hereford and Worcester 4 37 Hertfordshire 1 34 Humberside 4 49 Isle of Wight — 2 Kent 4 51 Lancashire — 25 Leicestershire 3 33 Lincolnshire 12 75 Merseyside — 20 Norfolk 5 89 North Yorkshire 6 68 Northamptonshire 3 31 Northumberland 4 13 Nottinghamshire 1 36 Oxfordshire 1 26 Shropshire 1 28
Brigade Resulting from intentional burning Resulting from accidental or malicious ignition Somerset — 17 South Yorkshire 1 45 Staffordshire — 39 Suffolk 3 53 Surrey — 12 Tyne and Wear — 21 Warwickshire 2 22 West Midlands — 15 West Sussex — 22 West Yorkshire — 57 Wiltshire 2 45