Children evacuated from football field after fire breaks out in suspected arson

Dozens of young footballers were evacuated after a fire destroyed their training ground in Sussex. The fire was treated as suspected arson.

Two rows of trees at Hailsham Town Football Club’s recreational ground went up in flames on Tuesday evening. The fire spread to a stand where children sat after training.

East Sussex Fire Brigade and Sussex Police are both treating the fire as a “suspected deliberate ignition”.

Rob Wilkinson, from Hailsham Cricket Club, one of the first responders on the scene, said he received a call at 7pm to go to the playing fields to let firefighters in.

He told it The independent: “It was scary, the scale of it definitely surprised me.

“The nearest people were training and smelling smoke first of all.

“When I got there ten minutes later, the hedge was already well under way. It had spread at least 40 feet and the football stand caught fire.”

He said the volunteer-run ground, which is home to football, cricket and tennis clubs, was always busy.

He said: “It was fortunate that 15 or 20 of us managed to get in there and get some junior goalposts to safety.

“Hailsham Harriers were running, the junior football team had just finished training and were in the stands when it went up,” he added.

“There wasn’t much we could do.

“It kept burning, burning, burning until the fire brigade arrived. We just had to get people to safety and hold them back. As a teacher, that came in handy before the fire brigade took over.”

Locals fear the fire is the latest act in a campaign of vandalism against the club.

Mr Wilkinson added: “One of the bins for the pavilion was burnt on Friday. As far as anyone can remember, we haven’t had a fire at the leisure center in 20 years, but now to have two fires in three days is unheard of. There is a bigger picture behind all this.

“It’s actually just a kick in the teeth.

“We are all volunteers, we make money from donations and it is such a shame that instead of buying equipment for the children, we now spend the money on cleaning up graffiti and repairing damage. It’s such a shame.

“The whole community will come together: football, cricket, runners, we all work within 20 yards of each other and we will look out for each other. It won’t stop us, but it’s hard to bear.”

In a statement from Hailsham Town Football Club, images of the aftermath of the fire were posted to Facebook on Wednesday morning. “Fortunately the damage was limited to the hedge and grandstand most affected by the fire,” they said.

“I would like to express my appreciation to the fire brigade and volunteers who showed up to remove the junior goalposts from the danger zone. “

A spokesperson for East Sussex Fire Brigade said: “The incident is being treated as suspected deliberate ignition and the police investigation is ongoing. There were no reports of injuries. The fire was out at 8:05 p.m. and the incident was handed over to the police.

A spokesperson for Sussex Police added: “The incident is being treated as suspected deliberate ignition and our investigation is ongoing.”