RESIDENTS fled from their homes after an arson attack on an empty property spread to other houses.

The blaze, in Altham Street, Burnley, caused huge damage to the house and also caused major smoke damage to several nearby properties.

Pensioner Raymond Judge, who lives two houses down from the burning property, suffered extensive smoke damage to his house.

He said: “I saw two young fellows come past running off in the direction of Noel Street just before the fire started.

“I called the fire brigade after smelling the smoke.

“I was scared when I went outside and there was smoke and flames everywhere.

“I went out of my house and waited outside.

“Later the fire brigade opened my windows and used a pump to clear the smoke out of the house.”

Another neighbour, a 44-year-old plasterer who asked not to be named, was confronted by smoke and fire when he opened the door to his home.

He grabbed his cat and dog, from the living room and ran out into the street at 8pm on Wednesday night.

His partner, who is 18 weeks pregnant, had already escaped.

He said: “I opened the door and there were flames all along the hallway coming up from the floor.

“As soon as I got out the windows of the house next door exploded.There were firemen all over trying to put the fire out.

“We got straight out – we didn’t even have time to get anything like handbags or wallets.”

The couple stayed in the street for two hours but when they returned to the house they realised the fire had spread to their front bedroom.

The plasterer said they had previously compl-ained to the police about the empty property attracting vandals but nothing had been done because officers were not able to contact the landlord.

He said: “Flames had spread to the joists in the front bedroom and they had ripped up the floorboards to get to the fire there.

“There is smoke damage all over the house but thankfully no-one was upstairs or it could have been a lot worse.

“I was really scared and thought our lives were in danger at one point.

“If the fire had been left any longer we might have been stuck in the house.”

Earlier in the week residents were evacuated over a gas scare after from the same house.

A spokesman for Burnley CID said police are working with the fire service to establish the cause of the fire.