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.
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