
An arson attack by thugs on an emergency response vehicle of Czechmate Pest Control took place on Friday night in Stevenston, North Ayrshire
The estate car - Peugeot 407 had been parked by one of my employees on the private driveway of my house in Stevenston around 12 noon the day before. I myself inspected the car and re-stocked with pest control materials during Friday afternoon to make it ready for driving a crew of our technicians to an emergency insect control job for our client in Prestwick Airport the next morning. Around midnight when I took my Jack Russell Terrier out for walk, the car was still sitting intact (and cool) on my doorstep.

Two in the morning
I went to bed soon after midnight. By that time, the car had been parked in the same place for over 12 hours. Two hours later, the car with specialist pest control tools and materials on board was on fire. Fire brigade arrived soon and put the fire out. On my request, police came shortly thereafter.
Police Scotland
Having spent about 5 minutes with investigating in the dark of night, attending police officers concluded it was an accident by self-igniting off the car's battery.
Why were the officers wrong?
- The car was regularly serviced in a garage and was in a very good condition. The battery, along with cables, hoses, oil, fluids etc was checked by myself and found faultless just one day before the fire. Definitely, there were no leaks either.
- An experienced car mechanic examined and test- driven the car only a few days before the fire and never mentioned any electrical fault or a fire hazard.
- My employee who drove the car last time confirmed it did not have any electrical fault.
- The recovery truck driver who came to uplift the burnt out wreckage said it looks like after being hit with a petrol bomb.
- One of my neigbours said had heard something like an explosion and saw a man and a woman running away from the scene some 5 - 10 minutes before fire brigade arrived to tackle the car fire.
- Finally, the car had been parked up for at least 14 hours prior to the fire.

Pest control service as usual
I am proud to announce, against the odds, we have attended at all jobs for our clients this weekend and will continue delivering the best value insect and rodent control services in Ayrshire and Glasgow. Big thanks to Jim from our Glasgow branch!
The car targeted by arson has been recovered and our Glasgow branch will continue to cover Ayrshire with rodent and insect control services until a replacement vehicle is equipped and put into service. Whether you are in need of pest control or are just looking for a piece of advice from pest control experts - phone us on 01294 689903.

Please read update of 24 May, 2018: Aftermath of arson attack on our pest control business car