4:48pm Sunday 8th November 2009
By Catherine Pye
A SEVERE fire ripped through one house and left two others badly damaged in a suspected arson attack on Bonfire Night.
Firefighters said they were called to the terrace house in Raglan Road, Burnley, at about 9.30pm on Thursday.
Neighbours had alerted them to the blaze after seeing flames coming out of the window and front door of the property, they said.
It was initially feared that people were inside the house, but a thorough check by fire officers wea-ring breathing apparatus failed to find anyone.
Yesterday, staff from Lancashire Fire and Res-cue boarded-up the front door and window of the house where the fire started.
The front door of one of the neighbouring prope-rties was also boarded -up, as was the front window of the house at the other side.
According to neighb-ours a man lives at the house where the fire started but has not been seen for a number of weeks.
They said one of the other effected houses was also empty and up for rent and that a woman lived in one of the adjoining prop-erties.
Burnley watch manager Neil Mark said they could not rule out arson.
He said: “It’s looking like a deliberate fire.
“When we arrived the door was insecure and the house was well alight.
“The place is lived in, but it was empty at the time, though it is not possible to stay in any-more. The neighbouring houses have been affected by smoke so we have had to set up ventilation machines in them.
“We sent crews back out yesterday morning to do fire safety checks in the area because this demonstrates how fire in one building can affect others, and it is essential to have smoke alarms.”
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