Sunday, December 18, 2011

Sick people

When Pam’s father was Station Officer at Hoylake, they had a volunteer fireman who would go out onto nearby Caldy Hill and start fires deliberately in order to earn himself the callout fee. Strictly speaking, the fireman was not an arsonist but rather an opportunist. However, I have no doubt though that Pam’s father came across a number of true arsonists during his long career in the service.

In Torrevieja there is an arsonist or arsonists who have been responsible for lighting fires in the area of the salt lakes of Torrevieja and La Mata. The fire brigade reckon they are responsible for 40 fires over the last three years and may have been responsible for the fire there yesterday because it seems that the blaze started in three different locations.

In all 8,000 square metres of bush and cane were destroyed by the fire which was first detected at 11am and was brought under control by 1pm. The operation involved crews from Orihuela, Torrevieja and Almoradi along with the helicopter from the Provincial Fire Consortium in Alicante. 

I have no idea what motivates people to start fires deliberately. However, I can imagine the cost of dousing the fire yesterday and although there was no risk to housing, there is always a risk factor for fire crews putting out a blaze.

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