Arsonists starting a series of bin fires across Huddersfield “stripped the town of fire cover all night” and resulted in serious damage to a carpet shop.
Watch Commander Robin Ferguson, of Huddersfield Fire Station, said both his engines spent until 4am putting out deliberate fires in Dalton , Moldgreen and Aspley.
“They were so frequent we were driving around discovering these fires rather than them being reported to us,” he said.
“We do cover a massive area from our station and one little arsonist has stripped Huddersfield of fire cover all night. We even had Dewsbury on stand-by for a time.
“Obviously, we can’t be out possibly saving lives when we’re chasing after incidents like these.”
In total six fires, starting at 12.50am, took crews from Dalton to Moldgreen and onto Aspley and then back to Moldgreen.
The most serious emergency was at Aspley Carpets in Colne Street, just off Wakefield Road, where a window was smashed, allowing smoke to fill the building.
Watch Commander Ferguson said his crew arrived just in time to prevent the flames spreading through the window.
“The fire was going to make its way on to the ceiling,” he said. “It was a few minutes from burning the whole shop but we just managed to stop the spread in time.”
Shaun Seymour, manager at Aspley Carpets, did not find out about the fire until he came to open up. He said the damage will have an effect on the business but it was difficult to assess how badly until insurance assessors arrived.
“You can’t get rid of the smell of smoke and we won’t know how much stock we have lost until insurance assessors come out and we unroll the carpets,” he said.
“The smoke has stained the wall, inside and out, and the fire brigade had to batter down the front door to make sure the fire hadn’t spread inside.”
Shaun said the shop would be open today but staff would spend most of their time clearing up.
“You can’t let it affect you,” he added.
West Yorkshire Police confirmed they were called to the Aspley Carpets fire at 2.03am by the fire brigade.
A spokesperson said enquiries were ongoing and anyone who witnessed the fire is urged to contact police on 101, quoting log 159 of August 1, or use the live chat facility on the West Yorkshire Police website.
