INVESTIGATIONS are continuing into an arson attack on a lorry at Sourton Cross which could have had grave consequences for the driver of the vehicle, who was sleeping in his cab at the time.
The large straw bales stored in the trailer were deliberately set alight while the lorry carrying them was parked in the underpass at Sourton Cross on the A386 overnight last Friday.
The driver had parked on the hardstanding at 11pm on Thursday and went to sleep in his cab. Sometime between then and 3.40am on Friday, the arson attack occurred.
The alarm was raised by two off-duty retained firemen who spotted smoke coming from the trailer. The passers-by woke the driver of the vehicle, who was in a deep sleep and totally unaware his trailer was alight.
WPC Angie Frost, crime reduction officer for West Devon said: ?We would like to thank the members of the public for stopping and helping, but also praise them for their quick thinking and for checking to see if there was anyone in the cab sleeping.?
The lorry was a green Skania goods vehicle with a two-axle draw-bar trailer, carrying a large quantity of straw.
Firefighters from Okehampton and Hatherleigh arrived to find the trailer well alight in the central area of the bridge, over which runs the A30.
The firecrews managed to detach the lorry from the trailer and used three water jets and two sets of breathing apparatus to fight the blaze.
Three appliances attended, two from Okehampton and one from Hatherleigh, plus a water tanker.
Station officer for Okehampton Ian Donovan said the crew also had to set up a hydrant some distance away.
The crews were assisted by the use of a local farmer?s tractor, which helped carry the straw onto a grass verge where it was extinguished.
The road was closed for several hours with traffic diversions in place until around 9am, causing major disruption to traffic travelling to work.
Before the road was re-opened, Devon County Council was called in to carry out a structural survey of the bridge which suffered some scorching.
Mr Donovan said firefighters were able to minimise this: ?We kept the jets on the ceiling of the bridge throughout to try to keep it cool,? he said.
Detectives are keen to speak to any witnesses who may have passed the scene after 11pm on Thursday.
WPC Frost said: ?Please don?t think that just because you didn?t see someone set the fire that your information would not be helpful. We
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