'Flames were lapping up side of the house': police seek arsonist who set cars on fire in Northampton

A taxi driver was forced to fight a fire outside his Northampton home when two cars and a garage door were ruined in an arson attack in Northampton.
By The Newsroom
Published 31st Jan 2017, 15:48 BST
Updated 31st Jan 2017, 16:08 BST
Fire crews were called to the scene at 5.55am where two cars and the garage door were ablaze.Fire crews were called to the scene at 5.55am where two cars and the garage door were ablaze.
Fire crews were called to the scene at 5.55am where two cars and the garage door were ablaze.

Thousands of pounds worth of damage was done to the vehicles and property as around 12 firefighters fought the "intense" flames.

Fire crews were called to the house on Ecton Park Road at 5.55am.

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The bonnets and engines of a BMW and a Volkswagen had been set alight, burning the nearby garage door and destroying a fence partition.

A neighbour had to wake up the house's occupants before tackling the fire himself with a fire extinguisher.A neighbour had to wake up the house's occupants before tackling the fire himself with a fire extinguisher.
A neighbour had to wake up the house's occupants before tackling the fire himself with a fire extinguisher.

A spokeswoman for Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue said the fire was believed to have been "deliberate ignition."

Ken Fox, a taxi driver and a neighbour on Ecton Park Road, said: "My wife was sat at the window and I was on my laptop when she yelled, 'there's something burning outside.' I didn't believe it, but then I opened the front door and saw the car on fire.

"I ran to their house and banged on the door for them to wake up. Then I fetched my compact fire extinguisher from my taxi cab. I managed to put out the fire on one of the cars but of course it was burning under the bonnet too so it didn't do much good.

"I didn't even see that the other car and the garage was on fire.

"At one point they were really intense and were lapping up the side of the house."

Related topics:NorthamptonBMWVolkswagen