That call in the night...

 We had a very nice Sunday at home, this weekend past.  Gus mowed the lawns in between watching the motor racing and the cricket.

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I did more gardening, tidying the rose bushes, cutting back cat mint that was overgrown.  I planted out some petunias so they should be in bloom by Christmas.

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By dinner time, the sunset was so pretty, casting an eery glow on everything...

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 With not much on tv, we had lights out at about 10pm...

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Then just after 11pm, a phone call woke us to tell us that 3 cars were on fire at our car dealership!  It was our service manager who called.  He was just coming back into town from a weekend away with his family when they saw the flashing lights of the police and fire trucks.

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We raced to get dressed, still half asleep then took off into town, not knowing what we would find.  When we arrived, we saw 3 cars well alight, still being doused by our Country Fire Service men.

All I can say, is that I was thankful that the buildings were not alight.  

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Vehicles can be replaced and we are covered by insurance but if it had spread to our showroom, offices or workshop, our business would be crippled for a long time.  We are lucky that it happened at a time when there were still people driving by - if it happened at 2-3am, no one may have noticed the fire until later when more damage could have occurred.  Also, it was a very still night so the flames were not fanned much.

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This is a brand new Ford Territory, completely gutted on the inside...

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This is a second hand Land Rover Discovery, recently traded, now ready for the junk yard...

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You can see how the fire melted the Ford oval sign - behind that wall is our service workshop and directly up against that wall are plastic bottles of oil and coolant, a kerosene tool washer and many aerosol cans - how lucky that a spark didn't get in?  The plastic bottles had started to melt just from the radiant heat - so lucky!

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Now, would you like to know how this all happened?  To start with, we weren't sure if it hadn't been deliberately lit or whether a vehicle just ignited or what...

Eventually, Police obtained a statement from a witness that said a man was seen fleeing the scene, not wearing any trousers!  Hmmm, obviously deliberately lit!
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Then police asked to see our Closed Circuit Television footage - we had this surveillance system installed when we completed our new showroom in May this year.  Every so often we get vandalised so we thought it may be a good deterrent to such crimes.
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(Idiots get joy out of stomping on car bonnets (hoods) or rubbing gravel into bonnets or running a coin down the side of vehicles or stealing a tail light or two or snapping off a side view mirror.   All these are small incidences that are not worth claiming insurance on (because of our excess), just a cost to us, the business owner.)

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On viewing the recording, we found that a man had entered the car yard a good 1.5 hours before the blaze started.  He looked at many vehicles before leaving the yard, returning with a 5 litre can then proceeded to punch a hole in a fuel tank of a diesel Ford Focus.  We later discovered he let this fuel just go out onto the ashphalt.  He was after unleaded fuel.  This ashphalt will now need to be replaced as it is a fire hazard.

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He then made several more trips on and off the yard before finally going directly behind the grey Holden Barina.  Seconds later, KABOOM! an explosion occurs and he is seen running then falling to the ground with his trousers on fire.  He finally gets them off but picks them up and carries the flaming ball to the front of the yard then drops it.

Police had a pretty good idea of who the culprit was and on viewing the tape (known offender), were even more sure.  Now they just had to find him.  After a short search in the early hours of the morning, he was located with burns to his legs.  He is now is custody and has been charged with arson and illegal interference with a vehicle.
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This guy is a criminal, fresh out of jail recently and just can't help himself.  He is a serial shop lifter in our small town, has been banned from entering 5 different retail stores because he steals something every time he enters, yet he is out of jail again and offends less than a week later!  He also was picked up last Friday for another misdemeanor but let go...
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We are so thankful to our wonderful staff, who came to our aid Sunday night, shifting vehicles out of the workshop to safety in case it went up and helping to secure the premises afterwards.  We were still there at 3am.  On Monday morning, further mopping up was needed as a lot of water and foam was sprayed into the workshop just as a precaution and to cool the wall down.  By 8.30am, all staff were back on deck and working normally.
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Of course, mention must also be made about out local CFS brigade who had the fires under control within about 10 minutes then continued to make sure every spark and ember were extinguished in each vehicle, dousing them with retardant foam, which took a while.  The police were wonderful and acted quickly and we are so pleased we got this imbecile and that he is now in custody until he appears before a magistrate in the new year.

Here is a link to the news story (my hubby is in it) and footage of the blast and the idiot trying to get his pants off - its quite funny! 

http://au.news.yahoo.com/sa/a/20232515/man-sets-own-pants-fire/
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Cheers - Joolz xx