Children blamed for series of fires
Tuesday 22nd July 2008, 11:05AM BST.
Children playing with matches were probably to blame for a series grass fires in Oswestry, fire bosses said today.
Firefighters from Oswestry Fire Station were called out to three incidents yesterday evening.
A crew attended a small grass fire at Mount Road near Oswestry’s old racecourse just before 5pm.
The Oswestry firefighters, backed up by colleagues from Chirk, were then called to tackle a small grass fire at Old Oswestry Hill Fort on Llwyn Road at 6.50pm.
They used beaters and a backpack to get the fire, on 50 square metres of land, under control.
And just after 7pm they were in action again to tackle a small fire at Sycamore Fields at Maesbury Marsh.
Two square metres of undergrowth was smouldering when the crew arrived and the firefighters used buckets of water to extinguish the fire.
Mr John Davies, Oswestry Fire Station’s manager, said: “We were kept pretty busy with a number of grass fires.
“It is always difficult to say but I am putting the fires down as children playing with matches.
“They would not just start by themselves.
“I would urge youngsters not to play with matches at any time but particularly at this time of year when the land can be very dry.”
He cautioned: “I would encourage parents to keep an eye on their children and teach them of the dangers of fire and playing with matches.”
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