Video: Police treating fire which destroyed seven cars as deliberate

The incident, which also saw two gas canisters explode and another car left badly damaged, happened at a business premises on Hanson Lane at 1.05am today (Friday).

A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Emergency services were called at about 1.05am this morning by residents who reported hearing a number of loud bangs in the vicinity of Hanson Lane, Halifax. It was established that a large fire had taken hold with a number of cars alight.

“In total seven cars were burnt out as a result of the blaze, with an eighth receiving substantial damage.

“Following initial enquiries by fire investigators at the scene it is believed that the fire is of suspicious origin and the incident is being treated as arson.”

Four appliances from Halifax, Elland and Illingworth attended the incident and used four breathing apparatus and four large jets to extinguish the flames.

Nobody was injured in the incident and firefighters managed to protect nearby business premises, which suffered heat and smoke damage.

Halifax watch commander Andy Rose said: “There were a lot of people about. The fire was really spreading. The eight cars were fully involved with fire, plus two canisters exploded, so it was really intense.

“When canisters are involved if they explode they can travel some distance. Potentially the public could have been at risk because of the intense heat of the fire and it spreading, and also because of those canisters that were placed in and around the cars.

“The biggest thing we did was protecting the surrounding buildings.”

Anyone with information about this incident or who saw anyone acting suspiciously in the area is urged to call Calderdale CID on 101.