THOUSANDS of drivers faced traffic chaos today when a busy road was closed because of a fire caused by an arson attack.
Police closed Wakefield Road in Elland in both directions after electrical cables were found burning in roadworks on a bridge at 1.30am today.
The cables run from Halifax through Elland to Lindley, causing power cuts in all three areas.
It meant serious delays for traffic heading between Huddersfield and Halifax through the morning rush hour.
The fire also brought a power cut to hundreds of properties.
Eleven people sleeping on narrowboats on the Calder and Hebble Canal off Wakefield Road were evacuated in the early hours as there were fears flames could reach a gas pipe.
The alarm was raised about 1.30am when flames were spotted shooting from a roadworks trench in Wakefield Road, where a bridge is being repaired.
A fire service spokesman said: “A crew from Elland was sent to the scene and it was found that high-voltage cables were on fire.
“More crews from Halifax were sent to the scene and crews were used to protect a gas main in the roadworks.
“We had to wait until the power in the cables could be isolated before we were able to tackle the fire and put it out, which was shortly after 7am today.”
Firefighter Leroy Aston from Elland fire station said: “There was some brave firefighting to stop the fire in the high voltage cable from spreading to a gas pipe. There are a lot of high voltage cables there.’’
By 8.30am today there were still three fire engines at the scene, mainly as a contingency as electrical experts assessed the danger and looked at how to repair the damage.
A police spokesman said that several roads had been closed, including Wakefield Road, Copley Lane and Stainland Road.
He said the roads were expected to remain closed for several hours.
