|
The Rabbits Revenge 16-Aug-04 |
|
From the Telegraph: Owzat!
Rabbit sets cricket club on fire
The rabbit jumped out of the bonfire at the 150-year-old Devizes club, Wilts, with his tail on fire and disappeared beneath the hut. Eleven firemen fought the blaze, but were unable to save the equipment inside, including several mowers. Richard Read, the ground committee chairman, said: "A volunteer was burning branches and poured paraffin over them to get the fire started. "Suddenly, this rabbit shot out, on fire. It must have had paraffin poured over it and caught fire at the same time. "We ran to see where it had got to but couldn't find it. We can only imagine that it bolted inside the hut because, shortly afterwards, it started burning. The fire spread to the whole place in a few minutes and there was no chance of getting anything out. "When we told the fire brigade how it started it certainly raised a chuckle." As an insurance assessor visited the hut yesterday, Mr Read said: "Fortunately, the roller was out on the pitch, but we lost everything else. "The fine turf mower, the big diesel mower, wheelbarrows, brushes, all the bits and pieces collected over the years - all gone. "We are appealing to any rich benefactors out there to help replace some of this equipment." The blaze also destroyed the connections to the club's new electronic scoreboard. Pip Flowers, the Devizes fire station commander, said he had never heard of such an incident before and regretted that it had been impossible to save the rabbit. "It's
very sad for the poor thing," he said.
|