WILFUL fire-raising has accounted for more than 60 per cent of blazes over the past four years.

Figures obtained from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has found deliberately started fires lead to around 1,600 emergency call-outs every month.

The number of deliberate fires fell slightly in 2011, but remained steady in the years since.

Fire-raising is most prominent in Glasgow with just over 18 per cent of wilful fires started within the city - a total of 13,946 in the four-year period.

North Lanarkshire also experiences around 2,250 deliberate fires each year, just ahead of Edinburgh and South Lanarkshire.

The statistics, revealed under Freedom of Information legislation, show there have been 181 deaths as a result of fires in Scotland over the past four years; however, the SFRS would not confirm which proportion were a result of wilful fires.

Assistant Chief Officer Lewis Ramsay, director of prevention and protection, said: "Deliberate fires endanger communities throughout Scotland and we are constantly working to protect the public from these reckless, criminal actions. It's vital everyone recognises the danger caused by people who do set fires and we need the public to help us reduce these incidents.

"Many deliberate fires are started by young people, so firefighters conduct school visits, youth programmes and public events to raise awareness among this group. We want young people to remember starting fires is never harmless. Every fire has victims. Deliberate fires can overstretch local fire and rescue service resources, taking our crews away from other incidents in the area and putting lives at risk."

The investigation of fires is conducted in partnership between Police Scotland, the SFRS and the forensic services department of the Scottish Police Authority.

Officers are currently probing a spate of fire-raising incidents, with derelict school sites being one the most common areas targeted.

The former Drumoyne Primary School in Govan was set alight during the early morning of Thursday, just a day after the nearby Broomloan Nursery School was gutted by flames.

A further fire at a housing development site in Vesuvius Drive, Wishaw, last Monday is also being probed. Police Scotland have confirmed all three are being investigated as wilful fire-raising.

Another huge fire at the former Fencedyke Primary School in Irvine is also being probed, along with a blaze at a Tesco in Shettleston which caused around £700,000 worth of damage.

Police Scotland say it is committed to working with its partners in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to tackle those who start fires. Superintendent Daniel Hatfield said: "Police Scotland and SFRS have a long-standing local and national partnership in the prevention and investigation of fire and other major incidents.

"The focus of Police Scotland is to keep people safe and both services are committed to protecting people from harm. Wilful fire-raising can cause damage to property and terrible loss of life.

"We work with SFRS to make sure investigations are carried out to consistently high standards and the best evidence is secured to help place those responsible for causing fires before the courts."

Over the past four years, the SFRS have recorded 126,003 incidents across the country.

Following investigations, it was found that 76,784 of these fires — around 61 per cent — were started deliberately.

There is some significant regional variation across Scotland as more than 83 per cent of fires in Inverclyde were ruled as deliberate, while over 81 per cent of North Lanarkshire fires also found to be intentional.

Many parts of Scotland also have very low percentages of wilful fire-raising with the three island authorities posting percentages in single figures.