Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Police probe cause of 'deliberate' fire at terraced house in East Cleveland


Neighbours report seeing flames in wheelie bin to the rear of property in Brotton





Neighbours have described how they attempted to put out a fire which damaged a terraced house in East Cleveland.


Police officers were today investigating the cause of a blaze left the house in Brotton with smoke and fire damage.


They believe that it was started deliberately in a wheelie bin to the rear of the house.


Fire engines from Loftus and Skelton attended Jackson Street after receiving a call at 10.15pm last night.


Firefighters were forced to use breathing apparatus and a hose-reel jet to extinguish the blaze.


The house was left with minimal fire damage, but there was heat and smoke damage to almost half of kitchen.


And more than half of the rear lobby and staircase sustained fire and smoke damage.


Paul Marshall lives next door to the house and was the first person to alert the emergency services.


“I was watching TV when I saw this bright light through the curtains," the 41-year-old said.


“I ran down stairs and I could see through the door that the back yard was totally ablaze.


“All the wires running up the wall of the house were on fire so I ran straight upstairs and rang 999."


Another Jackson Street resident, Phil Webster, 31, said: “My mate came up and told me there was a fire so I came down the road and ran round to the back alley.


“When I had a look I could see that there was a heap of something at the back door.


“It looked like a wheelie bin full of wood so I jumped the fence to my back yard and got a bucket of water to try to put it out."


A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: “Police were called to an address in Jackson Street in Brotton just after 10.20pm on Monday.


“No one was inside the address and colleagues from the fire service will attend today in a bid to establish the cause of the fire.”


A Cleveland Fire Brigade spokeswoman said that the investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.



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