Late night van blaze spreads to flat

Firefighters were called out to the incident on Braithwaite Street, North Shore, at 11.30pm last night, and found both the van and a discarded sofa next to it ablaze.

The fire had also spread to the outside of a downstairs flat, scorching the brickwork and causing a window to crack.

“Luckily the flat was unoccupied at the time and no one was hurt, with no need to evacuate the premises,” said fire crew manager Craig Wilkinson.

“We don’t know as yet whether the fire started on the sofa and spread to the van, or if it was the other way around, but we are treating it as suspicious and an investigation has begun.”