‘Like a War Zone’ Small English Town Sees a Dozen Cars Set on Fire in Apparent Arson Attack

A small English town was ravaged by an apparent attack that saw cars burnt out in the early hours of Monday morning, with residents describing the scenes as something akin to a “war zone”.

Dorset police have announced that the are investigating reports of 13 cars being set on fire in and around the town of Wimborne in the early hours of Monday, between one and three o’clock in the morning.

In a statement, Detective Sergeant Simon Austin, of County CID, said: “These incidents have affected a large number of victims in the wider Wimborne area and we are aware that this will cause concern.

“I would like to reassure our local communities that officers are currently investigating all reported incidents and are making every effort to identify those responsible. People will see visible police activity as officers are making house-to-house and CCTV enquiries.”

The police went on to call on witnesses to come forward as well as anyone who might have CCTV or dash cam footage to submit potential evidence to the police.

Got woken up at 1:20am to be told my car has been set on fire! There has been multiple fires in wimborne/merely area early hours of this morning. @Bournemouthecho @ITVCentral @BBCDorset pic.twitter.com/59NHFpyP0d

— Chloe Torring (@chloe_torring) May 15, 2023

The Times newspaper reports arsonists are thought to have travelled by motorcycle form one car to the next through several neighbourhoods, pouring “accelerant” on vehicles before sparking them off.

A local hairdresser, Chloe Torring, 25, said that she was “gutted” in a state of “complete shock and disbelief” to have discovered her car, which she purchased just five months ago, was destroyed in one of the fires.

“I was woken up by my neighbour ringing my doorbell to tell me my car is on fire. I was in complete shock and disbelief,” she said according to The Telegraph.

“It’s heart-wrenching to think someone would do such a horrible thing, for no good reason,” Torring said. “My car is completely destroyed. The engine is on the floor, I have no front half of my car – there’s just charcoal inside.”

Another local resident, Grant Stewart, 33, said: “I was woken up by a bang and thought it was a car crash, looked out the window to see an orange glow and people running around.

“One person comes running to the scene to wake up one of the owners of the car and their car was on fire. I went out to find it was like a war zone with three cars ablaze and bangs going off.”

As of this reporting, the police have yet to identify any suspects or potential motive for the apparent arson attack.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka