ANOTHER warning has been issued after a grassland fire, believed to have been started deliberately, spread and caused damage to parked cars last weekend.
The incident on fields off Burton Road, Monk Bretton resulted in a 40-year-old man being arrested on suspicion of arson and criminal damage. He has since been bailed while police enquiries continue.
Emergency services were called to the location at about 2pm on Sunday after a call was made that a number of fires had been started in the area.
Police and the fire service confirmed the fires had been started deliberately and residents said cars were charred by the flames.
A spokesman from South Yorkshire Police said: “The fire spread and caused damage to a number of vehicles. No-one was injured in the incident.
“Anyone with information about people starting fires in their area should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
A resident on Monk Terrace, where several vehicles were damaged due to the fire, told the Chronicle the field has been targeted a number of times in recent weeks.
“I couldn’t believe just how quickly it spread,” said the resident, who did not wish to be named.
“Petrol or something to accelerate it must have been used as it spread to the street in no time.
“It’s shocking as although having cars damaged is bad enough, it could have been much worse.
“The field is very dry, the grass looks like straw and obviously it burns much easier and quicker because there’s been hardly any rain for weeks.
“I’ve lost count the amount of times we’ve had to call the fire brigade out so far this summer.”
Last week, the Chronicle reported that more than 100 deliberate grassland fires have been started across Barnsley since the beginning of June, and now that figure has risen to more than 120 representing a 300 per cent increase on last year’s figures for the same period.
The problem has led to South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue issuing another warning this week.
Approximately 100 square metres of grassland was affected in the latest incident, which took a crew from Cudworth fire station more than an hour to tackle.
Simon Brookes, community safety manager for SYFR, said: “It’s another incident in a long line we’ve had to deal with recently.
“The message is simple: those responsible may not know it as it might appear to be a small, trivial fire, but their actions are putting lives at risk and it’s important that a warning is sent out to make them stop.”
