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Investigations into a large-scale blaze next to Tamba Park have concluded that the damage was done deliberately - and there’s a £5,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest of the fire starter or starters.
Park owner and entrepreneur Jonathan Ruff is putting up the four-figure sum in a bid to capture the culprit behind the inferno that tore through a glasshouse next to his adventure site in the early hours of Bank Holiday Sunday. The incident led to a call-out of 12 firefighters, who had to use two water jets and breathing apparatus to tackle the heavy blaze.
An investigation into the root of the fire was subsequently launched, concluding this weekend that it had been started “on purpose” according to Mr Ruff.
Pictured: Fire and Rescue Service vehicles attend the St Mary scene at 01:00 on 27 August.
In a post on social media, he blasted the the anonymous arsonist’s actions, writing: “It’s shocking to think someone would do such a thing but even more so given the proximity of the fire to Tamba Park a family attraction that gives its profits to feeding starving children in Africa!
“Fortunately the fire was put out quickly but 10 more minutes and it could have spread and effected [sic] Tamba which would have had great consequences thankfully it did not!”
He says that 14 long-range night vision cameras have now been added to the perimeter of the glasshouses, which border the attraction, as well as hidden internal cameras.
In the post, Mr Ruff also dismissed rumours that the fire could be linked with his Planning Application to build a holiday village of nearly 30 luxury self-catering units on the glasshouse site as “complete madness.”
Pictured: An example of the pod-style units Mr Ruff hopes to build on the green zone site. (Tamba)
“For one it’s a criminal offence as much as I need a holiday I don’t fancy having one in La Moye! Secondly if I do get permission to take the glass houses down I have to separate all the material for recycling which is very difficult to do if it’s all melted and moulded together the cost of separating this is going to be very expensive,” the developer wrote.
The ordeal was the second to hit the site this year after a ‘jurassic spark’ from a digital dinosaur’s tooth caused a glasshouse fire back in April. But Mr Ruff insisted that this second fire would not be a setback and urged islands to not be discouraged from visiting Tamba.
“Tamba is a safe fun place for children and adults that supports a great cause we want to keep growing and bettering our offering and we need your support to do this,” he said.
Pictured: Fire damage to the glasshouses next to Tamba Park in April. (Tamba Park)
Anyone who can provide information on the incident should contact Police on 612612 or Mr Ruff at jonathan@ruffventures.co.uk.
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