Three-house blaze spreads in seconds

MEDICIAL assistance for one of the shocked residents.

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CHILDREN are believed to have started a large fire which ripped through houses in Glodwick.

Three homes were badly damaged in the blaze which fire fighters say started in or near a car port behind one of the houses in Woodstock Street.

It spread thought their roofs on Saturday afternoon as families celebrated the start of Ramadan.

The road was cordoned off as four fire engines and an aerial platform tackled the flames. Around 20 police officers were also at the scene at its height.

One man, who had gone into his home to check his family had escaped, was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. No one else was injured

Burham Uddin's 80 year old grandmother and her four sons live in the four-bedroom house where the fire started.

The 19-year-old Oldham College student said: "When it started I thought it was something small. Then it spread to a Land Rover, the kitchen, thought the house and to next door."

He had just returned from Hollins Fire Station, where he is fire cadet, when the blaze started at around 3pm and added: "I was in the house and the fire service told us to get out."

Waiter Abdul Kalam's house was also damaged and he said the fire spread within minutes.

"It started off next to a car. The wind then picked it up and it spread because it's like a funnel there," said Mr Kalam (38).

"I heard the sound of crackers but I did not pay any attention. When I went further up the road I could see black smoke and that's when I started running back down."

"I think it might have been kids, a while ago they set fire to a fence."

Watch manager Ben McDermott from Oldham Fire Station said the fire was probably started by children, but does not believe it was deliberate.

He added: "It originated with a car fire or a fence fire behind one of the houses. It was a significant fire which spread very quickly into the roof space."

Conservative parliamentary candidate Kashif Ali, whose family live in the area, were among those at the scene He said: "It's absolutely devastating and our thoughts are with the families affected."