On Friday, May 1, volunteers and firefighters were called to the site during the afternoon after a blaze broke out.
Members said the fire was brought under control quickly with limited damage, but firefighters warned it was a close call and could have spread rapidly, threatening wildlife, infrastructure and overhead power lines.
A group of children and teenagers is suspected to be responsible, with volunteers reporting several recent incidents involving fires and damage to property, including bird boxes.
A spokesperson for the Tice’s Meadow committee said: “This is a reoccurring problem but has escalated over the last few weeks.
“A group of children have been running riot – some as young as 10 to mid-teens – have been coming down and lighting fires as well as vandalising bird boxes.
“On Friday we were alerted to a fire in our WhatsApp group by a dog walker and by the time we had arrived the firefighters were there putting out the fire.
“It was a small fire but as we have a lot of dry material, if it was left any longer it could have been very severe.
“We are in contact with the police as our volunteer tried to speak to the children but since then they seemed to have doubled down and things are getting worse.”
The spokesperson urged parents to ensure their children behave responsibly.
He added: “Apparently on Facebook they have been attempting to flip the script and have been making false allegations against volunteers.
“It’s about more than the group and volunteers. It is about the people that use Tice’s Meadow and the wildlife here. It is making people feel that they are not safe.”
A Surrey Fire Service spokesperson said: “We were called to a fire in the open at Tice’s Meadow Nature Reserve, Farnham on Friday, May 1 at 6pm.
“We had one fire engine in attendance. Our crew left the scene at approximately 7.05pm.
“The cause of the fire was deliberate.”
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