Man hunt in burning hoarder’s house

Initial reports of the fire were made about 8pm yesterday at a semi-detached property on Bull Royd Avenue in the Allerton area. However, when crews arrived, they found the burning house stuffed “floor to ceiling” with items.

Green watch commander from Fairweather Green Andy Collis said: “The front door was boarded up. When we removed the baords, the items fell out onto us. It was floor to ceiling. It took us an hour and a half to get to the bottom of the stairs, which was just 2m from the front door. Usually in hoarder’s houses, there are passageways but there were none in this.”

It is understood the owner of the property was not in at the time but that he informed fire crews he believed a rough sleeper may have broken into the property.

Mr Collis added: “We were going through the breathing aparatus oxygen tanks faster than normal - they usually last 35 minutes but the lads were going through them in 20. They worked hard to contain the fire and stop it spreading.”

The fire is understood to have affected three rooms of the house. Inside the building, crews found all manner of items, including industrial drills and welding equipment, along with other household objects.

Emergency services were expect to remain at the scene throughout the day.