Plea issued after two ‘deliberate’ fires started at Gedling House Woods

A group of volunteers are urging residents to help them tackle fires being started ‘deliberately’ in Gedling House Woods by reporting them.

Two fires were reported by visitors yesterday (April 12) to the Friends of Gedling House Woods (FGHW) group and then extinguished quickly.

One smaller fire was extinguished by volunteers and a larger fire in the evening was put out by teams form the fire service.

One of the group’s volunteers wrote in a Facebook post: “Two fires were started in the woods yesterday.

“One was lit by two youths who claimed to be ‘trying to keep warm’ and was extinguished using cans of water at about 4.30pm.

“The second fire was a much larger fire and caused damage to the surrounding trees. The Fire Service attended at about 8.15pm and extinguished the fire successfully using a long hose from Wood Lane.

“Four youths were seen leaving the site and it is possible that they started the fire.

“It is not clear if the two fires are connected in any way, or purely coincidental.”

He added: “Many thanks to residents who alerted the Fire Service and FGHW committee, and to those who attended with cans of water.

“We rely on visitors to the woods and meadows to report any suspicious activity and hope you will continue to do this for the benefit of all, while making sure you remain safe.”