Arson probe after residents flee fire
JON MACPHERSON
RESIDENTS were evacuated from a house and flat after a suspected arson attack at a shop.
Four fire crews were called to the Day N Nite shop on Barnes Street in Clayton-le-Moors at around midnight on Thursday, August 30.
Firefighters believe the blaze could have been started deliberately and have launched a multiagency investigation with police.
No-one was inside the shop at the time of the incident, however people were evacuated from a flat above the premises and an adjoining house.
Hyndburn crew manager Stephen Horrocks said the blaze started at the rear of the shop and ‘everything inside has been destroyed’ by the heat and smoke.
He said: “At the moment we haven’t established a cause but we think that it’s going to be of a suspicious nature. There wasn’t anybody in the shop but there is a flat above that became smoke-logged and those people were evacuated.
“A house next door to the shop was also smoke- logged and they were evacuated too. We were probably there for around four hours. The fire started at the back of the shop and it has either started from inside the shop and spread outwards igniting rubbish, or it started outside as a possible attempted break-in.”
Maureen O’Brien, who has lived on Barnes Street with her husband for 20 years, said she was ‘shocked’ at the incident.
She said: “We had gone to bed at 11pm and then we saw all these flashing lights. There were loads of fire engines and the road was taped off. We didn’t come outside because we are both in our 80s.
“We stayed in bed and didn’t really know what was happening.”
She added: “I’ve never seen anything like it before on this street. The shop is very popular and lots of people use it.
“It’s very sad to see it like this. I go to the shop every morning to get my papers. I’m shocked by what’s happened.”
Lancashire Police said they were called to the scene at 2am on Friday, August 31.
A spokesperson said: “We were called by the fire service who made us aware that it was thought to be a suspicious fire.
“The damage has been described as extensive. Everyone had been evacuated from the flat upstairs and we are investigating it.”
Anyone with information call police on 101 quoting log number 97 of August 31.