Police are to visit schools in Huddersfield in a bid to crack down on arson attacks in Deighton.
And the latest attack - at a terrace house a stone’s throw from the Deighton Centre which was hit on Saturday night - put the lives of nearby occupants as well as fire crews in danger.
Police believe the fires in the area - now totalling eight in eight days - are being carried out by ‘school age’ youths who are perhaps not fully aware of the dangers they are posing to themselves and the public.
In one instance gas bottles were placed within rubbish which was set alight, an incident which could have had potentially fatal consequences.
Huddersfield Inspector Jon Dunkerley said: “Officers are working with fire service colleagues and the community to identify who has been starting these fires.
“It is believed they’re local youths causing anti social behaviour and nuisance on the old Deighton Centre site that is now in the process of being demolished.
“There will be increased patrols in the area and we are working with contractors regarding their security at the site in order to prevent a reoccurrence of these fires.
“Sometimes youths can see these sites as exciting and a challenge but in actual fact they are highly dangerous.
“Arson is a very serious offence with extremely dangerous consequences and we always treat it as such.”
Insp Dunkerley added: “In one instance gas bottles were placed within a rubbish fire that not only causes extreme danger for members of the public and those lighting the fires but also the emergency services who attend.
“Officers from both the fire service and the police will be going into schools to work closely to resolve matters to also identify those who are causing damage.”
The latest incident saw crews from Brighouse, Elland and Dewsbury called at 7.10pm on Monday to Tenterhill Farm where they found an end terrace house 100 per cent alight.
Flames and thick acrid smoke could be seen billowing from the roof and crews immediately requested an aerial ladder platform to assist in tackling the blaze.
The end house and the adjoining property were derelict but a third house in the row was occupied.
They were called back to that fire this morning - Tuesday.
Hours before the terrace house fire at Tenterhill Farm on Monday, crews had also been called to the Deighton campus to reports of a fire. The callouts followed four incidents over the weekend and one last Tuesday.
Huddersfield Watch Commander Chris Bell said: “This would appear to be the latest in a string of arson attacks at Deighton.
“Three appliances were called to a house fire in close proximity to the Deighton Centre which we believe was deliberately targeted on Saturday night.
“On arrival they found an end terrace house was 100% involved in fire. They requested the aerial platform which attended and used large jets to tackle the flames.
“The fire spread to the roof and severely damaged the structure which is now unsafe.
“Crews did a good job to prevent the fire spreading to the adjoining property.
“Two of the properties were derelict but a third was occupied although it is not known whether they were home at the time.”
But Mr Bell said resources were pulled from other areas as Huddersfield appliances were tackling a severe grass fire in Kirkheaton at Laneside Quarry at the time.
He added: “The incident at Deighton is being treated as arson with intent to endanger life.
“We would like to reiterate that for every nuisance call we attend we can’t attend a potentially life threatening incident.”
Crews from Huddersfield last night also spent two hours last night were tackling the grass fire at Laneside Quarry, Kirkheaton. It is not known whether this incident was also suspicious.
Anyone with information about the Deighton fires should contact police on 101.
