Flat owner shocked at Felixstowe Victoria Street fire

Many Felixstowe residents witnessed smoke billowing across the town at 6.30pm on Wednesday and social media site Facebook was abuzz with rumours about what may have caused the fire which threatened other homes in Victoria Street, a narrow, densely-packed residential area full of Victorian-era terrace houses.

The blaze started in a bin behind a Hamilton Road building that contains retailer WH Smith on the ground floor and two flats above, before spreading to the surrounding area and roof. 

READ MORE: Three teenage boys arrested after fire in Felixstowe

The scene of the fire in Victoria Street in Felixstowe (Image: Newsquest)The man, who did not wish to be named, owns both flats and lives in the flat next door to the property affected by the fire.

He said he smelled smoke and looked out of the window to see the bin on fire in the rear yard, which backs on to Victoria Street.

He described how it "went up in a minute" and had set "everything" on fire on Wednesday at about 6.30pm.

Smoke billowing from the street (Image: Contributed)

READ MORE: Emergency Services at fire in Victoria Street, Felixstowe

Fourteen fire engines attended the major incident, with crews from Felixstowe, Ipswich East, Woodbridge, Holbrook and Needham Market stations being deployed to tackle the blaze.

A road closure was put in place initially to deal with the incident, but had been lifted by Thursday morning, although a police car and forensics van were still present, while the entrance to the yard was cordoned off with police tape.

Debris from the fire was strewn across the rear yard of the property in Victoria Street (Image: Newsquest)Charred debris from the bin was visible, strewn across the yard, while slates were missing from the fire-damaged roof of the flat nearest the bin.

READ MORE: Felixstowe news

The walls were black with soot, while badly burned electricity boxes attached to the wall were missing doors, which had apparently been singed by the extreme heat.

The flat owner said: "We are just all shaken up about it and we are going to see what we can do."

A firefighter attempting to bring the blaze under control (Image: Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service)

Neighbouring businesses were also affected by the fire, with the WH Smith store being closed on Thursday due to water damage from the fire hoses used to dowse the flames.

Meanwhile, staff at the town's Iceland food supermarket also witnessed the incident, although their premises is detached from the burned building and therefore emerged largely unscathed.

READ MORE: Fire service called to incident at Port of Felixstowe

An Iceland employee, who did not wish to be named, said the food store had closed just before the blaze and he was putting some frozen food away when the fire started.

The walls and roof of the property in Victoria Street were badly damaged during the blaze (Image: Newsquest)He said: "I thought I smelled something. We were just putting some frozen out. I just came out and I could feel the heat and I saw the bins on fire."

Anna Oleksiuk, who lives opposite, said she had walked past the scene only minutes earlier as she returned home, but "everything was alright".

"When I walked past, there was no fire, no smoke. Just a few minutes after I walked into the house, the landlord shouted 'there is a massive fire outside'. I opened the window and I saw black smoke," she added.

READ MORE: Suffolk news

She said she was "quite shocked" because it was a 'really quiet street where nothing bad happened'.

Another Victoria Street resident, Evie Masters, was listening to music in her room when the incident unfolded.

"I was in my room and then I heard my family shouting about something and I thought they were talking about a spider, I was a bit confused. Then I heard them scream 'fire' and then I saw it.

"I was feeling a bit shocked. I was scared it was going to spread elsewhere," she said.

Three teenage boys were arrested on suspicion of arson in relation to the incident and were in custody on Thursday morning.

The Felixstowe incident was the second possible arson in as many days in Suffolk.

The fire at Delphi in Sudbury on Tuesday afternoon (Image: Joe Collins)

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with a fire at the derelict former Delphi factory site in Sudbury on Tuesday.

Suffolk police and crime commissioner Tim Passmore said he was concerned to hear about the incidents and said he would ensure the police had the resources they needed to investigate them.

He said: "Arson is a dreadful crime and while I do not know the details of these cases I can assure you that the police will have all the support they need to fully investigate them alongside the fire service.

Suffolk police and crime commissioner Tim Passmore (Image: Sarah Lucy Brown)

"This is very early days in this investigation but if there has been a crime the police will be working with other agencies to prosecute this."