Figures released in parliament by justice minister Crispin Blunt revealed there had been a total of 1,445 fires in both adult and juvenile prisons between 1 January 2010 and 29 February this year.
A breakdown of how many incidents took place at individual establishments was not provided, but a list of prisons where fires occurred contained all 11 YOIs used to hold under-18s.
The figures do not reveal how many people were injured or how severely.
Penal campaigners said the information points to a secure estate that is not under control.
Penelope Gibbs, director of the Prison Reform Trust’s out of trouble programme, said she was surprised there have been "so many fires" in juvenile YOIs. "It’s not clear how they started or who started them but in a way that doesn’t matter.
"The fact is that the safety of the children in YOIs is at risk from this many fires and it is particularly worrying if it is the case that children are setting fire to their own cells, which would indicate a mental health problem that needs treatment," she added.
News of the fires follows other concerns raised about children’s safety this year.
In January, two teenagers died in the space of a week after being found unconscious in separate YOIs.
In the same month CYP Now revealed that the use of controversial restraint techniques in youth jails has risen despite falling numbers of children in custody.
Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at The Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "Prisons are awash with drugs, violence and arson, and this is inflicted on local communities when people leave prison.
"We lump young people in trouble with the law together under one roof, exposing them to violence, substandard education provision and long periods of boredom, and expect them to miraculously morph into perfect law abiding citizens. We are setting these children up to fail.
"Instead, we should take a welfare approach that tackles the causes of children’s offending, perhaps by tackling mental health problems or addiction problems, or setting up real support in the community.
"Sending them to jail where their safety and possessions are at risk is not acceptable nor will it reduce reoffending."
A Prison Service spokeswoman said: "We have robust measures in place to deal with the risks posed by fire in all our prisons.
"Each prison also carries out regular fire risk assessments to ensure staff, prisoners and visitors are as safe as possible."
