Blaze at house in Dollingstown being treated as arson

Police say children were spotted in the area prior to the blaze at the derelict building.

Fire crews were tasked at 6.45pm on Friday night to the fire on the Inn Road.

A PSNI spokesperson said: “We now know it was started deliberately.”

“It may be a derelict house, however there are two main points to take from this:

1) Kids were seen in the area before hand. If they did indeed start it, then they’ve put their own lives in danger over utter foolishness.

2) Two fire appliances and an officer attended this. Now what happens if there’s a bad RTC where someone needs to be cut out, or a house fire in an occupied house? “Criminal behaviour has put the community at risk tonight, and taken our fine fire fighters away from their ability to respond quickly to where they are needed most.

“If you know anything about the fire tonight, who started it, or have names of anyone who was in the area at the time, give us a call on 101. The reference number is 1097 of today, 01/02/19.

“It could have been your family who were actually in need tonight, and someone out there put them at risk by their actions tonight.”