59 out of 302 (20 per cent) of Derry house fires were started deliberately
Firefighters had to respond to 59 house fires that were started deliberately in Derry over the past five years, it's been revealed.
That amounts to 20 per cent of a total number of 302 house fires recorded by the NI Fire and Rescue Service in the Foyle constituency between 2021 and 2025.
There were also 59 deliberate house fires in East Derry during the same period, and a total of 39 in West Tyrone.
The percentage of deliberate fires in East Derry was 28 per cent (59 out of 210). In West Tyrone it was 20 per cent (39 out of 195).
The figures were released by the Health Minister Mike Nesbitt in response to a question tabled by the DUP MLA Michelle McIlveen.
Across the North as a whole NIFRS responded to a staggering 855 house fires where it was 'determined that the fire had been started deliberately' between 2021 and 2025.
That amounts to 20 per cent of the 4,340 house fires recorded by the service over those five years.
Between 2020 and 2024 four deaths due to house fires were registered in Derry; one death was recorded in the West Tyrone area; and there were no deaths reported in East Derry.
Over those five years eight deaths were recorded across the North as a whole.
The deaths involved cases were the cause was put down to exposure to an uncontrolled fire in a building or structure and where the term house fire was included on the death certificate.