A NANGWARRY resident had a frightening start to the morning yesterday when she woke to find her shed engulfed in flames.
Police and firefighters responded to the suspicious fire which originally started in a shed on a vacant block before spreading to a neighbouring shed.
Country Fire Service (CFS) crews from Nangwarry, Penola and Kalangadoo were called to Ritchie Street at around 2.30am after reports of the fire.
A female occupant of the home on the neighbouring property woke to people banging on the front door and windows.
She exited the home to see the shed completely engulfed by flames and made the instinctive decision to quickly move her vehicle, which was just metres from the fire.
Neighbours assisted the resident by using garden hoses to begin extinguishing the blaze until the CFS arrived a short time later.
Wattle Range CFS group officer Fred Stent said around 15 firefighters attended and helped extinguish the blaze.
“When we arrived it was a well-developed fire as it must have started sometime before we got there, so we focused on asset protection,” Mr Stent said.
“Both sheds were completely destroyed by the blaze.”
He said there was no power running to the shed on the vacant block, which suggested it was deliberately lit.
“There was no power running to the shed and it was locked on one side, but open on the other,” Mr Stent said.
“Fire cause investigators were attending to ascertain the exact cause, but at this stage it is being treated as very suspicious.”
The occupant of the home believed she could have lost more than $20,000 of property in the fire.
Ritchie Street has been the location of more than half a dozen fires in the last two years, however no arsonists have been arrested in relation to the incidents.
“It’s extremely frustrating that people are starting these fires – they get no tick in the box from me,” Mr Stent said.
“I am just hoping the police can catch someone and they can be prosecuted because that is the best deterrent to stop people.”
Limestone Coast Police officer in charge Superintendent Grant Moyle said all the fires lit in Nangwarry are a concern to police.
“We do investigate to determine whether they were accidental or deliberate,” Supt Moyle said.
“Where they are deliberate, we will do what we can to identify the person or persons responsible for it.”
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to report it online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
