The torched road sign in Campion Road, Hatfield

Young firebugs ‘to blame’ for Hatfield blazes

By Chris Lennon, News editor Monday, April 30, 2012
6:26 AM

YOUNGSTERS are being blamed for starting a spate of fires in Hatfield Garden Village.

And a call has been made to the firebugs to stop – before their actions have devastating consequences.

Firefighters have been called to the area a number of times over the past couple of months, mainly to put out small fires in the fields behind homes.

But the youths have also torched a fence in Lavender Close and a road sign in Campion Road – by piling up newspapers and magazines and setting them alight.

Mark Pidduck, crew commander at Hatfield Fire Station, told the Welwyn Hatfield Times it was an ongoing problem.

He said: “We’ve had a lot of issues over the course of the last two to three months, although it does tend to get worse in the school holidays.

“We’ve even done a couple of drive-bys to see if we can catch them in the act.”

Mr Pidduck called on those responsible to think about their actions.

“I can’t stress too much this could have repercussions which could then be worse for everyone else,” he said.

“Field fires can be lethal. It only takes a little spark or a change in wind direction and we can lose fields.”

Mr Pidduck added the recent bad weather had actually helped the problem from escalating further.

“We’ve been lucky with the amount of rain we’ve had. If there had been no rain it could have been a serious problem.”

Police are understood to be investigating the blazes.

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