ARSONISTS set fire to a tree in Emersons Green, days after firefighters warned of the extreme risk caused by drought conditions.
The maple tree on Vinney Green, next to Emersons Green Lane was set alight on the morning of August 18 shortly after 9am.
Firefighters from Kingswood extinguished blaze using hoses, and informed police that the fire was believed to have been started deliberately.
Days earlier, the government had sent out an alert to all mobile phones in the country, warning of the “very high risk” of wildfires and asking people not to undertake any activity that could start a fire.
Avon Fire & Rescue Service had also advised people to avoid lighting any open fires or flames, not to throw lit cigarettes from cars or into grass and to keep lighters and matches away from vegetation.
Area manager Steve Quinton said: “With the hot and dry conditions we’re experiencing, even the smallest spark can lead to a fast spreading fire.”
A spokesperson said the service had attended 397 fires involving grassland, woodland or crops since the start of June, 111 of them in South Gloucestershire.
Some have started accidentally while others, including two on the Oldbury Court estate in Fishponds on July 31 and August 10, were started deliberately.
Meanwhile, workers and volunteers have been trying to keep young trees alive as parks and open spaces struggle through drought conditions.
Emersons Green Town Council environmental services manager Paul Kearsley said council staff had been watering the avenue of lime trees planted in memory of Queen Elizabeth II on Rodway Common in Mangotsfield last year.
They had also applied a layer of green waste compost mulch around the trees to preserve moisture, following a successful trial in a previous heatwave last year.
Mr Kearsley said: “Even with the benefits of mulching, the prolonged periods of hot, dry weather have meant that the trees still required supplementary watering, at least once a week throughout the heatwave, to help ensure they remain healthy and continue to establish successfully.”
South Gloucestershire Council workers have increased the frequency of watering flower beds, planters and hanging baskets, and carried out watering of younger street trees and recently-planted woodland sites, due to the extremely dry conditions.
A drought was officially declared in the region by the Environment Agency at the end of July, after the Bristol area received only 1% of its expected average monthly rainfall.
In nearby Downend, volunteers and residents living near Hill House Park organised to water more than 20 trees planted last year that have been struggling in the heat.
Even some older, more established trees had yellowing leaves by the middle of August.