Firebugs start four large fires in Birkenhead over 20 minutes

Jul 2 2008 by Matt Hurst, Wallasey News

FOUR hugely destructive fires deliberately started around Birkenhead within an hour could cost the community in excess of £100,000.

In the early hours of last Tuesday morning, more than 30 firefighters were battling the blazes, which affected a recycling plant, an HGV trailer full of high value electricals and even a phone box.

Emergency services closed a stretch of New Chester Road from 3am as arsonists embarked on a trail of destruction.

First, firefighters made a bin fire at the Rock Retail Park safe, before another call came through to attend Global Environment TV in Campbeltown Road, 200 metres away.

Here a HGV trailer was ablaze, packed with 150 fridges, computers, TVs and plastic sheeting.

Four crews worked hard to prevent the fire spreading to the nearby warehouse, which contained a large amount of glass and plastic.

But the night’s work was far from over.

At 3.45am, a call came through to attend another large blaze at Bather’s Tyres, just 400 metres further down the same road.

The store, in Spring Street, was very badly damaged with all its windows blown out by the heat, smoke and flames.

Nearby Bookers warehouse was also affected.

While all this was going on, crews were forced to attend another bin fire at a nearby McDonalds, as well as a burning phone box.

Merseyside Fire Service was eventually forced to call out six pumps, with crews from Bromborough and Wallasey assisting their Birkenhead colleagues for nearly four hours.

A spokesman said: “It is clear somebody had been moving along the road starting fires.”

The service put the burden of calling out engines and staff at £10,000 and made further calculations as “cost to the community”, based on criteria including equipment use, insurance consequences, health care, loss and disruption to businesses.

A wheelie bin or phone box fire costs the community £2,000, while a vehicle fire is estimated at £5,000.

The cost to the community of tackling a commercial business fire is £50,000.

Merseyside Police is anxious to contact a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt top, possibly light grey, who may have been accompanied by another male. Anyone with information should call Wirral CID on 777 2264 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.