Man arrested after garbage fire spreads to Lethem savannah

A 41-year-old man from Hotoquai Village, North West District, Region One (Barima-Waini), was arrested after he set fire to the Lethem Savannah, Region Nine, on Wednesday evening while burning a heap of garbage.

Based on reports received, the fire was spotted at about 19:40h by an official living in the area after she was alerted by her children that there was a fire in her yard.
As such, she immediately proceeded to the area, where she observed that the fire was rapidly spreading from the vicinity of her backyard onto the savannah of the Lethem Airstrip.
She raised an alarm while her sons attempted to extinguish the fire using buckets of water.
However, the fire quickly spread onto the savannah of the Lethem Airstrip.
The Lethem Fire Station was subsequently summoned and extinguished the blaze.
Upon being questioned as to whether he knew the origin of the fire, the man responded in the affirmative and stated that he had attempted to burn a garbage heap in the backyard.
The matter was reported to the Police, and the suspected arsonist was arrested.
Police inspection revealed that the fire had extensively burnt the southern side of the Lethem airstrip, covering an estimated area of approximately 400 metres.