A WOMAN alerted by her dog to a fire which threatened to engulf her home has described the arsonists as “irresponsible”.

Tina Wingar was asleep at her house in Ford Lane, Alresford, when vandals set fire to a bale of hay and pushed it down a hill, where it crashed in to a hedge.

Basil, Mrs Wingar’s Irish water spaniel, woke her by barking and scratching at her leg.

The 47-year-old said: “He had been barking and I ignored him at first. I thought he must have been disturbed by people in the lane and went to take him outside.”

But when Mrs Wingar opened the door she saw 30ft flames in the hedge, less than 10ft from the front of her house.

She called the fire service, which quickly extinguished the fire, and took Basil and her three other dogs a safe distance away.

Mrs Wingar said there had been a spate of small fires started at Whitehouse beach and Cockaynes Wood in recent weeks. She added: “Starting these fires is one of the most irresponsible things you could do in this dry weather. It might be a bit of fun to whoever’s doing it, but this one could have spread to our house. If Basil hadn’t been so alert, who knows what could have happened?”

Mrs Wingar, whose husband Ian is a retired firefighter, said Basil “deserves all the attention and praise he’s getting”.

Police are treating the fire, which was started just after 1am on Sunday, as suspicious.

Sgt Darren Deex, who runs the local neighbourhood policing team, said: “If anyone knows who is blame for this arson they should contact us immediately.”

Call PC Rob Binnington on 0300 3334444.