2 cars have been completely destroyed following a blaze at Fort Street car park in Sandown during the early hours of this morning (Saturday).
A member of the public reported to 999 controllers that a vehicle was fully engulfed by fire off of Fort Street at just before 02:00.
Within minutes a second vehicle caught fire following what has been described to Island Echo as an explosion.
1 appliance from Sandown was mobilised to the scene and the retained crew used 2 breathing apparatus and 2 hose reels to bring the situation under control.
A Land Rover Freelander – thought to be owned by a Sandown family – and a Ford Focus have been severely damage. The fire appears to have begun at the rear of the Freelander.
The cause of the fire is yet to be confirmed, but concerns have been raised by locals that the incident may have been an act of arson.
Early on Friday evening, at just gone 18:30, firefighters were called to Fort Street to deal with a small fire in the open involving undergrowth, fence panels and the base of a tree.
UPDATE @ 13:42 – Hampshire Constabulary have confirmed that they are investigating the incident as a suspected arson attack.
Anyone with information should contact Police on 101. Information can be given anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 11.
It has happened before in this area. Coaches in Car Park set alight and fires at the edge of the park.There is CCTV in the car park so I hope the person(s) responsible can be identified.
Join the discussion…Its all very well having CCTV but do they actually work or have they been vandalized? I would have thought if someone would do this they will deal with cameras first.
I was in the area that night coming back from work, didn’t think nothing of it at first but I saw two men acting strangely, one was wearing a blue tracksuit the other was in a white jumper and blue jeans, hope that helps to find the people responsible.
Can you let 101 know if you haven’t. As the police are investigating this, this may be very relevant.
Sounds like the little scummy chav shits have been up to their old tricks again. It’s about time some curfews were handed out.
Is there any pictures of the suspect yet? Be good to catch them, anyone could have been hurt.
if they do actually get caught, then the punishment should be fairly straightforward…
1. Take all their possessions and then burn the lot in front of them.
2. Deduct from their wages or benefits the amount it will cost to compensate the owners of the ruined vehicles and the cost of the use of the fire service.
3. Have them clean up the area
4. Name and shame with photos everywhere.
5. Make sure they know that others will see them all as nothing more than annoying little cnuts, that the planet would be better off without.
Well said
The owners were not aware or informed and woke to getting up for work to find this. They were devastated let’s all pull together to catch these mindless arsonists who should have to face the consequences of their actions nothing to compare with what I witnessed this am