A COUPLE whose home has been targeted by arsonists twice in four weeks have told of their fear of another attack.
Steve Boswell and his pregnant fiancée Emma Gregory, of Y Wern, Caia Park, say the early-morning attacks have given them sleepless nights, and a long list of repairs to their council home.
Arsonists set fire to rubbish at the side of their property on February 7, which melted the kitchen door and cracked the kitchen window.
The couple, who have a six-year-old son Ryan, recalled what happened.
Steve, 29, told the Leader: “We were in bed when I heard banging on the back door, so went to check it out but there was no-one there.
“I got back into bed, but then Emma said she could see a flickering outside.
“I opened the curtains and there was a fire in our garden. We took our son and escaped through the front door and called the fire service.”
The second attack happened in the early hours of Saturday when vandals set fire to a wheelie bin in the garden.Part of a garden fence was damaged.
Steve said: “I was in bed and saw flashing lights outside but assumed it was the bin lorry, but I looked out of the window and lo and behold it was a fire engine.
“We’re paranoid all the time now.”
Emma, 24, who is expecting the couple’s second son in May, said: “I’m not really sleeping at night now.
“Every time I hear a bang I get up to check it’s not another fire.”
The incidents on Y Wern are part of a succession of deliberate attacks which have rocked Caia Park in the last two years.
Arsonists struck three times on the estate in less than an hour in February, setting fire to a Vauxhall Vectra and a shed on Gwenfro, and a letterbox at a house on Queensway.
And in November, Dorothy Dudley-Smith, 78, was rushed to hospital after her Ford Fiesta was set alight outside her home on The Orchards, on the outskirts of Caia Park. She later died.
Police have announced a raft of new measures to help curb the crimewave, including the creation of a database of residents who have CCTV at home, which could provide crucial evidence in the future.
Text messages could also be sent to parents asking where their child is.
Chief inspector Alex Goss said last month there are more officers in the area than ever before – with three police officers on the beat supported by six PCSOs.
The couple have backed the new measures, but say they are yet to see evidence of more patrols.
Steve added: “The police seem to be doing what they can, but we haven’t had sight nor sound of these extra patrols.”
Members of the arson reduction team will visit their home in the coming weeks to carry out a fire risk assessment.
North Wales Police spokesman Michael McGivern said: “A fire risk assessment will be made at the property by the arson reduction team with a view to making recommendations to reduce the risks.”