The fence of an elderly woman was damaged during trouble in Derry
The pensioner said she was awoken in her bed by loud bangs at her front door in Galliagh.
She said two ‘Good Samaritans’ alerted her to the fire.
They tried to put out the blaze before it spread by filling buckets of water.
The shaken pensioner said all she could see was the flames when she looked out her window.
The attack happened after violence erupted in the area on Monday and Tuesday after materials were removed from a bonfire site in Linear Park
The terrified lady didn’t want to stay alone in the house and she was collected up by family members.
She said those responsible needed to “catch themselves on” and questioned how they could sleep in their beds at night, knowing what they have done.
The woman’s daughter accused the people behind the violence of targeting their own community and said she also felt let down by the emergency services.
“Somebody out there knows who targeted my mother’s home, a 78-year-old woman who never harmed a being in her life,” she told BBC News NI.
“Why? I want answers. This is not on. They are doing rioting in Galliagh Park. Why? Don’t target your own crowd. You’re targeting your own people here.”
The woman raised the prospect of her mother “lying dead” for the sake of a bonfire.
Asked about the response of the emergency services to the incident, she said she felt let down.
Car set on fire by youths in Galliagh on Monday evening. Pic by NI Emergency Response Videos
Police added that the NI Fire and Rescue Service was also tasked to attend and that it later emerged a neighbour had managed to extinguish the fire.
A PSNI spokesperson said they have since made direct contact with the pensioner.
During the two nights of violence, a 19-year-old female suffered a hole in her face after being struck by exploding debris from a burning car.
The following night police received reports of shots being fired in the area of Galliagh.
The trouble erupted after the Department for Communities, which owns Linear Park, brought in contractors to remove bonfire material gathered on the land.
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