Arson attack devastates £230,000 Lye Cricket Club pavillion
[gallery] A £230,000 cricket pavilion has been wrecked in a suspected arson attack just three years after it replaced a building destroyed in a similar blaze.
Flames were leaping three feet into the air from the veranda when fire crews arrived at Lye Cricket Club near Stourbridge after a passing police patrol had spotted smoke and raised the alarm around 3am yesterday.
A plastic litter bin had been set on fire at the front of the pavilion burning through the wooden decking and sweeping under steel security shutters guarding doors and windows.
The blaze then engulfed the inside bringing down the ceiling and wrecking fixtures and fittings.
Peter Butler, aged 77, from Amblecote who joined the club in 1975 and is now a life member, said the blaze was 'devastating.'
"We have just got things sorted out after the last fire. It makes you wonder whether its worth carrying on," he said.
Another life member Mick Clifford, who is 65-years-old and lives in Lye, added: "When I first came round the corner and saw what had happened, my initial reaction was oh no, not again. It was a heartbreaking sight.
"This is the fourth time the pavilion has been hit by fire since the club started. The fire crews said if it had gone undetected for another half hour the whole place would have been gutted.
"We will not be beaten. We have built it back up before and will do so again."
Acting Watch Commander Andy Bennett from Stourbridge fire station said: "It started in a plastic bin on top of the wooden decking and spread to the inside of the building."
Club secretary Jake Hanson, 22, from Pedmore, said: "We have just got back on our feet after the last fire and were having a great season before this happened.
"We are a community club and put a lot of our time and effort into it. We had to raise around £100,000 of the money needed to rebuild this pavilion. Now look at it."
Their pavilion was last destroyed by fire in August 2007. It was rebuilt in 2010 after grants and fundraising.
The club have played cricket at the ground in Stourbridge Road since 1858 and are currently leading Division 3 of the Worcester Border League with just a couple of weeks left of the season.
Officials are confident they will complete their fixtures and aim to use the neighbouring Lye Town football team club house for teas and changing facilities.
