Fire Service appeals for information after several deliberate fires

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is appealing for information after several fires were deliberately set in South Woodham Ferrers on Monday night.

Three fires were set in South Woodham Ferrers on Monday 18 September which saw the fire service resources being tied up for almost 24 hours dealing with these incidents.  

Timeline of the deliberate fires:

19:59 – firefighters were called to Crows Lane, South Woodham Ferrers to 500 tonnes of hay bales which they believe had been deliberately set on alight

20:29 – firefighters were called to a second fire in Creephedge Lane, South Woodham Ferrers to a haystack fire

21:17 – firefighters were called to a third fire in Edwins Hall Road, South Woodham Ferrers to eight hay bales which crews believe to have been set alight deliberately

Group Manager Craig McLellan said: “These deliberate fires have caused damage, disruption and distress to the community.

“Firefighters were tied up dealing with these fires for almost 24 hours, and during that time were not available to respond if they were needed for life-threatening emergencies like house fires and road traffic collisions.

“All three of these incidents were entirely preventable.

“We need your help to find out who started these fires. Using FireStoppers - an anonymous reporting service to report anything you know about deliberate fire setting - you can help to reduce dangerous and entirely preventable fires.”

You can call FireStoppers 100% anonymously on 0800 169 5558 or fill in an online form at https://www.essex-fire.gov.uk/firestoppers