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Where applicable, we publish responses to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This one, , is detailed below.

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Freedom of Information

Published on 23 October 2020

Ref: FOI/20083

RE: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 REQUEST

I am writing to confirm that the West Midlands Fire Service has now completed its search for the information you requested further to your freedom of information request. Please find below a summary of our findings.

Request

Can tyres combust without an accelerant being needed.

Reply

This information is exempt under section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as this information is reasonably accessible to the requestor. Information concerning spontaneous combustion of piles tyre shred and rubber crumb can be found on the Health and safety Executive website at the following link: https://www.hse.gov.uk/rubber/spontaneous.htm

Request

How many tyre fires there have been since 2018, and without the requirement for company details to be provided, how many of those fires are deemed to be caused by a person setting fire to them?

Reply

Please see attached. Please note the following:

  • The period used is 1st January 2018 to 31st August 2020. This end date has been selected as not all incidents for September 2020 have yet been finalised.
  • Incidents for the above period have been identified by searching the incident log for where ‘tyre’ or ‘tyres’ were mentioned and have extracted all the incidents where tyres were involved in a fire.
  • The cause is not recorded for secondary fire incidents. In order to offset this, I have therefore included the suspected motive of each incident as well as relevant details of the incident from the log which should hopefully assist the requestor.

If you have any queries about this Freedom of Information request, please contact us. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications. For service complaints, issues or comments regarding this request please contact The Public Relations Department, West Midlands Fire Service, 99 Vauxhall Road, Birmingham, B7 4HW Further information concerning Freedom of Information requests can be found on the Information Commissioner website at either the following link: https://ico.org.uk/ or at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF.

Please note: Due to a migration and ensuring the accessibility of our policies and documents where possible, not all documents referenced in our FOI's are available. If you require a copy of a document referenced in our FOI's which is not linked below or is in a format that is not accessible to you, please email contact@wmfs.net.