Malicious hoax calls for service and suspicious fires are a significant burden to the community financially and in the potential danger they present, yet little is known about the dynamics associated with their prevalence. The present research is the first of its kind in Australia to comprehensively examine these offences using unit-level location data supplied by the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service. The aim of this research is to identify the temporal and spatial patterning of malicious hoax calls and suspicious fires. Analyses employed advanced methods of geographic visualisation and statistics to track the changing spatial patterns of these events over 13 years. Understanding the patterning of fire events provides an evidence base for initiatives designed to reduce the incidence of hoax calls for service and suspicious fires.

Authors: Jonathan Corcoran, Tara Renae McGee, Michael Townsley, Rebecca Wickes, Renee Zahnow and Tiebei Li