Disgarded cigarette most likely cause of 80-motor blaze that rocked music festival
A DISCARDED cigarette was the most likely cause of a blaze that gutted more than 80 cars at a music festival, fire officials have revealed.
Scores of people were evacuated from the BoomTown Fair festival in Winchester, Hants, where 60,000 revellers saw acts including Madness and Damian Marley.
Revellers were evacuated from BoomTown in Winchester, Hants, after the fire broke out in one of the festival car parks.
Huge plumes of smoke could be seen from miles away as the inferno engulfed parked cars - with the vehicles left as burnt-out shells.
A report by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service concluded that the 'most likely' cause of the blaze at the dance music festival was a discarded cigarette.
A spokesman for the fire service said: "It seems the most likely cause was a discarded cigarette.
"It looks as if a lit cigarette was left unattended near the parked vehicles and supported by the dry grass, it quickly spread."
The blaze in the West Car Park at Matterley Estate took hold on Friday evening with six crews from across the county attempting to suppress the flames.
Organisers set up a dedicated incident information tent inside the festival to locate the owners of the affected vehicles.
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The event, which attracted 60,000 people, is in its eighth year and features four days of live music and art events.
Over the past few years, it has attracted controversy because people have lost their lives after taking drugs during the festival.
In 2014, an inquest heard how Lisa Williamson, 31, a mother and beauty therapist, was found hanged in a public portaloo at BoomTown after taking illegal drugs which 'affected her state of mind'.
That same year Hampshire Constabulary seized around 70,000 pounds of drugs and 15,000 pounds in cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Her death was the third in four years at the Boomtown Fair as in 2013, public schoolgirl Ellie Rowe died after taking the horse tranquilliser ketamine at the festival.
The 18-year-old, from Glastonbury, Somerset, was working as a volunteer steward at the festival when she was found collapsed in her tent by a friend.
In 2011, mother-of-two Deborah Jeffery, 45, died from a heart attack at the festival after taking ecstasy.
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