Deliberate fire damages two homes
A deliberately started fire has severely damaged two semi-detached houses in Londonderry.
The Fire and Rescue Service received reports of a fire at a house in Woodside Road at about 2355 BST on Tuesday night.
The blaze was brought under control an hour later. Both houses had been unoccupied for some time.
Station Commander Nigel Hagem said the blaze could have put the safety of his crew at risk.
"There were live electric cables, the fuse box was hanging off the wall," he said.
"We had to treat the fire, initially, defensively.
"We were fighting the fire from outside because of the nature of the hazards the crews were facing."