Burley bin fires: Concern grows in Leeds suburb as 15 more bin fires reported in early hours of the morning

One resident whose three bins were destroyed in Burley said that when firefighters came in the early hours of Friday (February 24), they said they had been called to 15 similar incidents that same morning.

In one case, a fire had caused damage to a gas pipe near a home. Another resident said he saw the fire started in his bin by an “old” man using a firework.

The latest round of fires comes after eight blazes were reported to the police and fire crews in the same area at the start of February. At that time one family told of how their daughter was left traumatised and a priceless motorbike passed down generations was destroyed.

On Friday morning, a number of fires were started on Woodside Avenue and Woodside Terrace, as evidenced by the trail of melted bins on the pavements, seen by the Yorkshire Evening Post.

One couple on Woodside Terrace whose bin had been destroyed, Gemma Shaw and Cameron Goraya, said that they were woken up at 4am to fire crews dealing with another fire on the opposite side of the road that had burnt through the ground and damaged the gas pipe.

Gemma said that the fire crews must have already put their fire out, as she “only noticed it when I went to work in the morning”. She said: “I was just shocked. That could’ve been so bad.”

A man who noticed the bin fire that damaged a gas main said that he called the fire brigade at around 2.15am and they said that they had already been called to four on Woodside Avenue. He said: “I noticed some coarse smoke coming from behind the shed and went to check and found the bin in a molten flaming puddle on the ground. It got pretty out of hand very quickly and started burning the fence.”

He said that the fire crews came within five minutes to put the fire out, but that the blaze had seeped through to the gas main and, as a result, his neighbour’s gas was off all day. He said: “I could smell gas after the fire brigade had left. I don’t know how bad it could’ve been if they hadn’t come.”

Andrew Lambert and Marina Marinon, who live around half a mile away on St Ann’s Close, said they woke up at 5am to the fire brigade putting out the fire started in their three bins that had spread to their fence. Marina said: “The firefighters said that they’d had 15 calls that morning.

"It was awful. It could’ve gone to the house or spread further down the fence and burnt the cars. The neighbours are worrying about what’s happened. We were lucky the neighbours saw it. You can see there’s nothing left.”

West Yorkshire Police say they are investigating the further incidents and West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service have been approached for comment.