Police treating huge fire at Grade II listed building in Northampton town centre as arson as road remains closed
A huge fire at a Grade II listed building in Northampton town centre is being treated as arson, police have confirmed.
The blaze first started at just before 6am on Sunday (March 30) in Sheep Street. Thick, black billowing smoke could be seen across the town. The road closed and cordon was set up around the scene. Today (Thursday April 3), the road remains closed to drivers and pedestrians.
Firefighters remained on scene for three days and left on Tuesday (April 1) evening, after completing a fire investigation and making sure all hotspots had been dealt with.
The building was significantly damaged by the fire.
Now, a Northamptonshire Police spokeswoman has confirmed the force is treating the incident as “deliberate ignition” and has asked anyone with any information to get in touch.
Witnesses or anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting incident number: 25000182661.
The road remains closed and as firefighters have now left the scene, the responsibility for the road closure has been handed over to West Northamptonshire Council (WNC). The authority has said the road will be reopened “as quickly as possible”.
A WNC spokeswoman said: "Whilst we are still in the process of dealing with the initial challenges of ensuring all of the residents in the area are safe, we are also looking at ensuring that Sheep Street is opened as quickly as possible.
"We will be keeping residents and local businesses updated.”
Power was also cut off in the area. 101 properties were affected, according to National Grid. Supply was re-established by 1am on Monday (March 31) in 86 of the properties, and by 10.43pm in the remaining 15.