A serious blaze was narrowly avoided after yobs started three fires along a stretch of road in Turton.
Fire crews from Darwen were called to Greens Arms Road at around midnight on Saturday.
Watch manager Steve Harrison said the incident could have easily escalated into a forest fire.
"It's tinder dry at the moment, it's like peat," he said.
"It could quite easily have got into the trees at one point it was about four or five feet away.
"It was a lucky escape."
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