Great Harwood mill fire being treated as suspicious

It has been revealed by fire chiefs that a huge blaze which devastated a mill in Great Harwood recently is believed to have started in suspicious circumstances.

An arson investigation by Lancashire Police is now underway into the fire at Albert Mill, on St Huberts Street, which involved up to 25 firefighters from Hyndburn, Great Harwood and Blackburn who tackled the flames for over three hours at 8pm on the evening of the 24th of November.

The fire, which was started in a unit of the building, managed to destroy a substantial amount of plastics and packaging before it was eventually put out by fire crews.

A Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said:

“Crews were called to the building in St Huberts Street shortly after 8pm after it was reported the mill was well alight. They are looking at the prospect of it being arson related.

“It was a large fire and a lot of firefighters were needed in order to get close enough proximity to the flames. It was a significant incident which wasn’t helped when the police had to be called because youths were trying to steal equipment. The crews were just trying to get on with their job so that was an annoyance.”