SLEEPING residents were left in a state of shock during the early hours of Friday morning after waking up to find their street on fire.
Five cars were destroyed on Staffa Crescent in Shadsworth, Blackburn, in a suspected arson attack.
A joint police and fire investigation has now been launched.
Megan Day, who lives on the street, was one of those whose car was destroyed in the attack.
The 19-year-old health care assistant had left her new Peugeot 208 parked outside of her home.
She said: “The car was new to me, I had only picked it up last Friday. I can’t believe that this has happened, it is a nightmare.
“I haven’t been able to get to work today and I’ll have to try and figure out another form of transport while I wait for a courtesy car.
“It is not fair that hardworking people have been affected by someone else’s behaviour. The whole situation is really frustrating.”
Shanice Hayes, who had been in her house with her three children, was woken by the flashing lights of the emergency services.
She said: “I opened the curtains, looked out into the street and couldn’t believe what was going on.
“It looked like the whole street was on fire – all I kept thinking was that it was going to spread to the houses.
“Luckily the fire service arrived really quickly and seemed to get it under control.”
Ally O’Donell, crew manager at Blackburn fire station, said: “We were called to the incident at around 2am. The fire started after one car was ignited, but it quickly spread to a further four cars.
“Running fuel - most likely petrol, had leaked down the street causing the cars to set on fire. This is believed to have been a deliberate incident and an investigation has now been launched.”
Three crews, one from Hyndburn and two from Blackburn, were at the scene for around two hours.
Firefighters used four jets and two hoses to extinguish the blaze.
Ward councillor for Blackburn South East, Vicky McGurk, was shocked to hear about what had happened.
She said: “This is a terrible incident and I would encourage anyone with details to please step forward and speak to the police about it. We do not want these kinds of things happening where we live.”
Contact the police on 101.
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