Fire from car so hot it melted front door
This is a message from Neighbourhood Alert Information sent on behalf of Nottinghamshire Police
Message sent by
Jason Crofts (Police, PC 1146, West Bassetlaw, East Bassetlaw & Sherwood)
A widow is appealing to members of the Worksop community for information about the person who torched her car, which was a gift from her late husband.
The 67-year-old was sleeping when someone tampered with her Vauxhall Corsa car parked outside her home, in Shaw Street, just before 1:30am on 30 September 2012.
The car burst into flames and the heat from the blaze was so intense it melted the front door and guttering of the house.
The woman was uninjured but left extremely distressed by the incident.
She said: “I was having the first good night’s sleep I’d had since my husband died and then this happened. I got up and rushed downstairs and when I opened the front door I was met with the fire, which singed my eyebrows.
“The car was worth much more to me than just cash as it was a gift from my husband. He bought it thinking it would be something that would last, but he didn’t count on someone setting it on fire.
“Anyone who knows who did this, please call police.”
Worksop PCSO Andrew Carter said that despite a decline in the number of suspicious fires of this nature compared to this time last year, since 1 April 2012 there have been 11 in the Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood area.
He said: “This is 11 too many and a big concern for us.
“Not only was the car in this incident the victim’s only means of getting around, the potential repercussions of a fire in such close proximity to a house are frightening.
“We are very lucky it didn’t spread further or cause the victim serious injury.
“A conviction for arson carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. We need to find the culprit before someone gets hurt.”
Anyone with any information about the person responsible for the fire should contact Nottinghamshire Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.