An outbreak of copycat fire raising

A dangerous outbreak of fire setting occurred on two wards of a Bristol Psychiatric Hospital, in which six patients set eight fires over a five-week period. One was the Intensive Care Unit, the other an admission ward serving the inner city of Bristol. Five of the six patients had moved between the two wards. The sequence of fires is in part explained by 'copycat' behaviour. The fires were set at a time when the hospital was particularly vulnerable because of major service changes. We emphasize the institutional and situational variables that led to disturbed behaviour in a vulnerable group of individuals, with inadequate controls over tension and anxiety.