Portsmouth fire sees Buckland residents call for better CCTV amid arson fears

Firefighters from Cosham and Southsea were scrambled to the blaze inside a ground-floor flat in Duke Crescent, Buckland, at 12.05am on Tuesday.

The fire destroyed the front door of the property, while terrified neighbours scrambled to evacuate their homes before the fire spread.

No one was injured in the incident and a police investigation is underway, while nearby residents fear that arsonists could have started the fire.

Trish Ware, who has lived in the road for three years, said she heard ‘a loud bang’ before seeing from her bedroom window that her neighbour’s front door was alight.

The 41-year-old said: ‘I opened my window to see better and it went ‘woosh’.

‘I felt like I was burning. I got checked over later, and I was okay.

‘It was really scary stuff.

‘The firefighters had it under control so quickly – if they had come just five minutes later, my flat would have gone up too.

She added: ‘We think it could be arson – I overheard the firemen saying that if there’s a pop, it could be an aerosol can.’

Trish said her neighbours – a couple believed to be in their forties – and their two dogs are safe and well.

She added: ‘They were alright but they were shaken up.

‘I don’t think it had sunk in for them at the time.’

After a suspected arson attack sparked a large fire in a nearby Grafton Street apartment last month, Trish said more CCTV would make residents feel safer.

She said: ‘More CCTV around here would be helpful.

‘People don’t wan to talk about what’s going on. I don’t feel safe around here.

The Buckland resident, who uses a walking stick after suffering two heart attacks and a series of health complaints, added: ‘If it was my door – how would I get out?

‘I use a walking stick I was in so much agony when I got out.’

An investigation to determine the circumstances of this incident is under way, according to a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman.