A TERRIFIED tenant feared a shed would explode and set fire to their home after arsonists torched a garden hedge.
Yobs set fire to a seven foot hedge surrounding a house in Park Avenue, Saltney in a mindless arson attack.
Flames engulfed the hedge, which backs on to a children’s play area, and came within feet of reaching a nearby shed packed with fuel, fertiliser and white spirits.
The tenant, who does not want to be named, jumped into action in a bid to stop the shed turning into a “fireball”.
He said: “It was very frightening and the flames were completely out of control.
“The shed is very close to the house and if that had gone up it would have been a disaster.”
A section of hedge stretching almost 30 foot was completely destroyed by the blaze.
Firefighters battled to bring the flames under control and discovered the fire had been started deliberately.
The tenant said: “I am very happy living here and I will not be driven out.
“I was in the house at the time and could smell burning so I went to look outside and there was a ball of fire in the hedge.
“I rang the fire service straight away and used a hose pipe to try and stop the fire spreading.”
The tenant has reported to the incident to North Wales Police who are now investigating.
He added: “The hedge borders an alley leading to the play area and some teenagers congregate their.
“There is a CCTV camera at the end but the youths can hide from it.
“We need another camera in the alley.”
The damaged hedge will be removed in the next few days and could be replaced with a concrete fence.
The tenant said: “The fire destroyed the hedge and has taken away our privacy.
“The worst thing was finding a family of birds who had been nesting in the hedge dead.
“Our landlord is thinking about putting up a concrete fence as at least they cannot burn that.”
Community leaders plan to raise the incident at a neighbourhood police meeting tonight.
Saltney mayor councillor Richard Lloyd said: “I would support the suggestion to relocate the portable CCTV camera.
“That will help deter anything like this from happening again.”
A spokeswoman for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: “We received a call at 4.47pm (on Thursday) and discovered a hedgerow around 20 foot long on fire.
“One appliance from Deeside attended and two hose reels were used to extinguish the flames.
“The cause was deliberate ignition.”