When someone tries to kill one of your neighbours

[Hudson]

In the dead of a freezingly cold night 4 fire engines with emergency lights going silently arrived. About a dozen firefighters busied about to deal with a fire in someones garden. Dark smoke rose from the top of the 3 floor house. I was shocked, and watched as the firefighters quickly braught a ladder to the house and one of them climbed it to the top windows, peering in with a headlamp. I felt a sense of dread and uselessness as tense minutes that felt like hours passed with no developments. Eventually I saw lights from inside, looking like headlamps making white beams through smoke. Someone was walked to the engines appearing to be coughing into a towel, helped by a pair of firefighters looking like they were asking questions or giving reassurances.

I caught the words from a loud radio "one rescued" but I didn't know how many people lived there. The firefighters were spread around, I could see them clearly in their sand coloured jackets lined with high visibility stripes, most of them with their helmets on, and atleast one wore a tank on their back. Outside the house they were looking up while talking and pointing. Others were at the engines handling different pieces of equipment. They all moved with purpose, their breath visible when under the street lights. One looked to be struggling with a blue packet, and tried opening it with his teeth. Another had a controller on a wire connected to an engine, and as he used it a pole rose straight up from the engine with something ontop of it which pointed at the house. The house was lightened up clearly by the engine now, and the house looked undamaged. I caught more words from the loud radio "fire second floor."

As more time passed the smoke had stopped, and a car slowly rolled up in the dark. A pair of figures appeared, and I saw the glint of handcuffs on the belt on one of them. The police casually approached the firefighters and seemed to chat with nodding heads before one was led inside the house. Some minutes later the police were looking more serious while chatting with the firefighters, using lots of deliberate hand gestures. Police tape cordoned the area off, and a figure was handling a German Shepherd. By 5am I spoke to one of the policemen, he said the fire looked to have been started deliberately, and I asked if everyone was alright. He said one person suffered smoke inhalation. The whole thing felt like a nightmare.

http://www.964eagle.co.uk/news/loca...st-molesey-house-fire-leaves-man-in-hospital/

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/west-molesey-house-fire-branded-12246137

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/west-molesey-house-fire-neighbour-12249323

 

[Hudson]

Thought I'd update this 14 months on. The BBC didn't seem to pick up the story, although they do have a story of a similar fire a year before in West Molesey that involved an arrest.

A referendum had been held 5 months before the firebombing to decide if the United Kingdom should leave the European Union. It was a close vote (51.9% for leaving) and it wasn't uncommon to see European flags displayed here and there. As far as I know, the perportraitor wasn't caught, so the motive is a mystery, but there was a European flag displayed in one of the windows at the time, so I did wonder if that had any relevance. The referendum and its impact(nicknamed brexit) was constantly in the news at the time.

I don't know how the victim is doing. The house that got firebombed had scaffolding up for awhile lately, but they've taken it down now since they've finished doing the house up and it looks good.