Wheelie bin fire causes multiple-car blaze in Wigan

Fire crews were called to a bin fire in Platt Bridge

Two cars were engulfed in flames one after another, in a chain reaction which was started by a wheelie bin fire.

The blaze occurred at around 1.10am today (Friday) in Walthew Lane, Platt Bridge.

A blue bin had been set on fire, which had caused Peugeot parked next to it to catch fire. The flaming vehicle subsequently ignited a Suzuki Alto, which then led to the garage door going up in flames too.

Watch manager Mark Anderson from Hindley fire station said: "There is an empty property on Walthew Lane. My belief is that a group of youths have been having a poke around the empty garden, and there are loads od full bins at the back of the property.

"The gentleman next door had his car parked up next to them."

It is understood that both cars belonged to the same owner, and were completely gutted by the fire.

Mark added: "He was concerned at first because there has been a number of arson attacks in the area over the last few weeks.

"However, on further investigation it was fairly obvious it had been started by a wheelie bin, so it wasn't a deliberate attempt to set fire to his cars. It just got out of hand."

But Mark said the fire could have been much worse, as the garage contained asbestos.

"It would have turned our job from a relatively simple one, to one that involved decontamination."

Firefighters were in attendance for approximately one hour.