Firefighters were called to a tree stump fire in Verulamium Park this morning.

Herts Advertiser: The tree stump on fire. Picture: Kern Roderick-JonesThe tree stump on fire. Picture: Kern Roderick-Jones (Image: Archant)

Kern Roderick-Jones, of Grange Street, spotted the fire at about 6.30am while out walking his dog, Spud.

He called the fire service and a crew from St Albans arrived, who Mr Roderick-Jones said were unable to park their fire engine close enough to the blaze.

Herts Advertiser: Discarded fireworks at the scene.Discarded fireworks at the scene. (Image: Archant)

The crew put out the fire by scooping buckets of water from Verulamium Lake and carrying them to the tree.

Mr Roderick-Jones said the stump was the result of when a tree was brought down during Storm Doris in February.

Herts Advertiser: The tree stump fire.The tree stump fire. (Image: Archant)

The stump was surrounded by empty firework shells, which he believed were the cause of the fire.

He said: “The fire had obviously been going all night, it used to be quite a big dense stump but was just a shell of itself by the time I found it.

Herts Advertiser: The scene in February 2017.The scene in February 2017. (Image: Archant)

“The fact that there were dozens of empty fireworks packages and drinks cans lying around it would suggest that it was started deliberately on Halloween night and left to burn.’

“While it wasn’t a real emergency the fire brigade had to attend as it was in a public place and could have caused a risk to park users if left untreated.

“It’s such a waste of valuable Fire Brigade time, effort and money and whoever did this should realise that they caused life-saving resources to be used unnecessarily and maybe pose a risk to a proper emergency.”