A fire chief has demanded action to secure a former Kirklees College building repeatedly hit by thieves and vandals.
Watch commander Graham Calcraft, of Huddersfield Fire Station, wants the one-time Royal Infirmary building in Portland Street, Huddersfield, properly boarded up.
Firefighters from Huddersfield and Elland were called to reports of smoke coming from the building at 4.30pm yesterday (Sun).
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Fire crews were also sent there two weeks ago when a large pile of copper wire was set on fire. Metal thieves were believed to be burning off the plastic covering.
This time crews spent an hour at the scene and Mr Calcraft said: “This is the second time that we have been here in two weeks and the fifth since the buildings became unoccupied.
“The fires just aren’t going to stop until the owners of the building do something about it.
“What is happening is that people are stripping the wire from the walls, then setting fire to it.
“We then have to go and put it out but doing so effectively cleans the wire so those who start the fires may then try to sell it.
“I think those behind the fires may even be living in there.
“We’ve been lucky so far in that we’ve been able to contain the fires but next time the whole block could go up.”
The site is in the process of being sold for redevelopment to Oldham-based Wiggett Construction Group.
