6.1 Of those brigades which responded to the questionnaire, only 29% were able to provide data about the likely motives for deliberate fires in their areas.

6.2 The most significant motive for deliberate fires was seen as vandalism, followed by attempts to conceal evidence of some other crime and to a lesser extent, insurance fraud. Reference was often made to the increase in the number of cars being deliberately set on fire (usually for one of these reasons). Other motives cited by brigades for deliberate fires in general included the activities of extremist pressure groups, terrorism and racially motivated attacks.