Terrified residents tell how "whole block of flats shook" as gas canisters explode during Northampton field blaze
Fire investigators believe fire was started deliberately
Locals have described how a "whole block of flats shook" as a two gas canisters exploded during a fire in Northampton on Tuesday (September 7).
Residents in Duston and Kings Heath reported hearing "insane" bangs as up to 30 firefighters tackled the blaze in tinder-dry farm fields.
One Chronicle & Echo reader posted on our Facebook page: "I live in new Duston and the whole block of flats shook, it scared a lot of people."
Another said: "The bang rocked my house," and another added: "It sounded like something had slammed into my window — the whole thing shook."
One resident said: "My whole house shook. It was insane, I thought something had fallen out of the sky."
Crews from The Mounts, Mereway, Moulton, Brixworth, Wellingborough and Rushden answered a 999 call reporting a "large bonfire out of control" in a farm field behind Teviot Close in Kings Heath at around 4pm yesterday.
The fire spread across an area up to 30,000 square metres — around the size of five football pitches — towards Kingsthorpe and Harlestone Firs.
Some locals claimed seeing rubbish fly-tipped in the field and investigators believe the fire was started deliberately, quickly spreading to the stubble already scorched by hot weather.
Firefighters at the scene first reported the fields contained standing crops but later confirmed most had been harvested.