Arson suspected as fire breaks out close to oil reservoirs

A blaze that engulfed a stretch of land at Rinella yesterday was one of a series of grass fires in the area that are suspected to have been ignited by arsonists.

Although no one was hurt during yesterday's blaze, sources said the incident could have had far more serious consequences since it was close to one of Malta Shipbuilding's oil reservoirs.

The fire did not get close to the reservoir, since there is a ditch in between, but there was a risk of sparks flying into the tank.

The grass fire was reported at about 3 p.m. and, although it started as a small blaze, it quickly spread with the wind. It took the Civil Protection Department almost two hours to extinguish it, sources said.

Over the past month, about seven fires were reported in the area, a spokesman for the CPD said when contacted.

"Although the temperature is getting warmer it is not that hot to spark off so many fires in the same area. We are suspecting that someone is setting the grass on fire," the spokesman said.

Last Thursday a planned fire at the Mediterranean Film Studios in Rinella got out of hand during filming of the last scene of a Japanese film.

Excluding the Rinella grass fires, the fire at the film studios was the fourth one reported in a week.

Last Friday, four vans abandoned in a field behind the Kia Showroom in Qormi were destroyed in a grass fire.

Last Tuesday, a fire erupted in the sitting room of an elderly woman's Sliema home. She was rescued by her neighbour, a former US marine, who intervened with the help of police.

That same day, a fire blazed for almost four hours at the Pender Gardens building site in St Julian's after wooden boards used during the construction works ignited.

No one was hurt but residents were evacuated as a precautionary measure.