Arsonists are thought to have started two fires in Northern Ireland. An oil tank behind a bungalow in Sion Mills, Co Tyrone, was set alight yesterday morning.
A neighbour raised the alarm and the occupants, a husband, wife and son, fled. Minutes later the tank exploded and eight other houses were evacuated. The family reported that their car tyres had been slashed.
Four people escaped uninjured from a fire that extensively damaged a house near Derry on Monday night. Fire officers said they were woken by a 13-year-old girl who heard a smoke detector. The fire began in a car parked outside and spread to the house.
