Fire-damaged tree ‘nearly killed’ two children when it fell at riverbank

Two children narrowly avoided being struck by a fire-damaged tree when it fell last weekend, a man has claimed.The incident has prompted a call for more to be done in the aftermath of similar blazes.Last Sunday, the tree fell across a footpath just off Dairy Way in Gaywood – next to the Gaywood River.

This followed a fire the previous week which left the tree blackened and weak.A nearby resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “My kids were playing outside the front, and they heard two kids screaming down at the river bank because the tree nearly hit them.“The fire brigade put the fire out but didn’t do safety checks, and it could have killed them.

“All they said to me was, ‘We can’t go on what ifs’. They are not taking responsibility. “What do you have to do? Wait for someone to die or get seriously injured before something gets done?”However, the Norfolk Fire and Rescue service says that while it deals with the emergency aspect of an incident, responsibility for the tree would pass to someone else afterwards – such as the landowner. A spokesperson said: “We were called on Thursday, May 15 at 9.35pm to a fire in the open on Dairy Way in King’s Lynn. One appliance from King’s Lynn attended.

“Crews used hand appliances to extinguish the fire.“We deal with the emergency phase of the incident and then we hand over to a responsible person.”