Children playing with a petrol lighter are alleged to have been responsible for a fire which burnt out the contents of a stone-built barn at Rushden last Friday evening.
The barn, on the Rushden Hall estate in the High-street South, is owned by the Rushden Urban Council and used by Mr. R. C. Newell, corn merchant. It was full of straw, and at 8.35 the N.F.S. learned that fire had broken out there. Under Company Officer A. P. Timpson a smart turn-out was made with a motor pump. Most of the straw perished, but the premises were kept intact, and neighbouring property, including 40 ducklings housed a few yards from the barn, was saved from harm.
Mr. G. C. Townsend, who lives nearby, informed the “Echo and Argus” that he detained two boys and a girl who were running away from the barn and had a lighter in their possession – said to have been given them by a soldier. P.S. Tansley made enquiries for the police.
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